Side Story: Twisted Fates
by Flailing Orchid
Summary: Volume 1-The Dragoon(Complete): A young man visiting Japan is tangled up in SAO's incidents. Using somewhat shady tactics, he stays at the forefront of the leveling curve. After stumbling onto a Unique Skill, he catches the eye of a certain guild leader. Volume 2-Chasing Shadows: The world of ALO is plagued by a notoriously ruthless player known only as Tiamat.
1. Chapter 1

**Side Story: Twisted Fates**

**_Volume One - The Dragoon_**

Chapter 1: The Casual Gamer

Coming to Japan was nothing more than a spark of immaturity that was lit within me right as I graduated from college. I came from a mediocre university with a mediocre degree sporting mediocre grades. Before losing myself in the torrent of the office world and a maze of cubicals, I wanted to see a world completely different than my own. That's when I proposed the idea of teaching English in Japan to my parents. There were many different companies that would sponsor college graduates and link them up with a sister company in Japan. My parents were hesitant at first, but when I informed them that it would look good on my resume, they swiftly agreed. Little did they know, my main aim was to make it over the seas in time to beta test this new state of the art game that was being released.

It was called Sword Art Online.

I always addicted to MMO's growing up. Before that I loved old console RPG's from the time when gaming was still in its infancy. A friend in Japan let me use his address to sign up for the beta. Luckily, I actually was accepted. I figured some time in a new land experiencing some new technology was just what I needed before condemning myself to the office worker's life here in America. I already spoke a bit of Japanese, and coming here and learning the language first hand could help me secure further jobs in an international sector. So even though I was coming here to play, I justified it with the fact I would be improving myself in a marketable way. Thus I made the trip after applying with a certain company.

The beta was stunning, unlike anything you could imagine. I could smell, touch, taste, and feel everything in the game. I am pretty sure I spent the first few days of beta doing nothing but testing what I could do with the system. I don't think I killed a single monster till day three. The beta ended quickly from my perception. Every day between the beta and the release of the game felt increasingly longer. The students I had to work with were all elementary students, so it wasn't like they had anything interesting to say. A particular brother and sister group always seemed to fight and be mean to each other, but those were the only ones who stood out. Ah, but I guess in my current situation that doesn't matter much anymore if what I was just told was the truth. Because today is the release day for SAO, and there seems to be a large data corrupt GM claiming to be the games creator over us explaining something with overly complex Japanese terms that I'm not quite familiar with.

Earlier, I said I came to Japan to see a new world. I guess those old cliché terms of "Be careful what you wish for..." could never be truer. I knew something wasn't right when my logout button disappeared after a few minutes into the game. It was frustrating because I wanted to remake my character. You see, I made a female character to see just how realistic the system was... it was detailed much to my surprise. But I didn't want to play one as my main character. But that wouldn't have mattered anyway I suppose. Because, at that moment the large blood soaked GM told us to check our inventory. Small mirrors began to appear in everyone's hands and reverted our shapes to those as our true real life selves. Everyone was panicking at this revelation. More so than the dastardly plot the corrupt GM outlined earlier, which I was still unsure of what that was exactly, but from what I could gather, we weren't allowed to log out.

As I looked down into the mirror, green eyes and brown hair with blonde flaxen hints gleamed in the sunlight. It looked liked my real face if not slightly exaggerated on some details. But it was eerily close to the real deal. I thought for sure my height of six feet and my difference in ethnicity would draw more attention as we shifted to our previous guises. But I was completely over shadowed by a very large black man. While still reeling in shock over the his size, I noticed out of the corner of my eye as a two particular players, one young and dark haired and the other older lighter haired but scruffy get drug off by the younger darker haired boy as if in a rush.

Everyone else slowly began to descend into panic soon after. A few people started to lash out at each other in anger. They swung their swords wildly, attacking each other. But they were in town, so nothing happened. There were safe guards on in the town to prevent PKing.

"It's your fault!" One player in the distance screamed in Japanese, "I should have never joined you in this horrible game!" I could understand all of that. Normal phrases I picked up just fine, but when the words became complex... well there were some I just didn't know.

While everyone slowly descended into a terrified madness, I noticed the large black man was suspiciously calm. He rested his hand on his chin while he seemed to be lost in deep thought. I could only think of the "Thinking Man" statue that was famously displayed as I looked at him.

"Uhm..." I stammered caustiously at first, "_Do you speak any English?"_

The large black man turned towards me a bit surprised and nodded, _"Sure do."_

"_Ah, the thing is, well... I speak some Japanese, but more complex words are..." _I scratched the back of my head, "_What I am asking is, I don't think I really understood everything the GM was saying... don't laugh but I think he said something about us dying if we die in the game?"_

"_That's what he said." _The black man replied hesitantly but still in a mildly tranquil way.

"_He's not serious is he?" _I asked with mild disbelief.

"_Who can say for sure, but..." _He was interrupted.

One of the people in the crowd suddenly shattered into polygons. After a bit more, another one sharded like glass as well. Then several vanished from the world in tandem. Their guardians or friends were forcibly logging them out, killing them. Mass panic erupted and everyone in the center of the Starting City scattered to the four winds.

Over the next two days I sat around and spoke with the huge black man I met during the first day, his name was Agil. Despite his fearsome visage, he was quite friendly and had a joking manner to him. Most of our conversation on the first day was philosophical in nature. The discussion focused on whether we would really die and if there was any truth to it at all. Then as no one came to our rescue, we realized there may be a bit of truth behind the man's claims. Our talks then shifted heavily to what would be the best course of action to survive in the world.

Being a gamer from America, my first instinct was to worry about PK, but Japanese gamer's mind set was quite as PK focused in this MMORPG games. It wasn't a prime feature on their games like was in America. When playing MMO's in America, World PVP was always my focus. You could say I was a casual player due to the fact I was never on the cutting edge of game play. I always cleared dungeons behind everyone else and my gear was always a step behind everyone else. I enjoyed MMO's, but my actual life had some meaning too. I wasn't a hardcore addict like a lot of these players were. But very few people could match my skills in tracking down players and finding the best way to take them down... or conversely escape them when I was the one being hunted.

But now, I was in a game where death meant true death in all sense of the meaning. This time I had to play like an addict to even survive.

0oooooo0

It was the fourth day in when I finally decided I had to start hunting monsters and prepare myself to survive in this world. I was already four days behind the more intelligent players. As I stepped out of the Inn and bid my goodbyes to Agil, he threw a small pouch of food to me.

"_Stay alive, I expect you to pay me back for the food with interest."_ He grinned.

"_So, I'm your first investment in this big financial plan you have?" _I grinned back at him.

"Something like that." He smirked, rubbing his hand across his bald head.

With a few button presses on my HUD, the small pouch vanished into my inventory. Then after a deep breath and a nod I bid farewell to my first friend in this brave new world. Though I felt hopeful in my efforts, the starting city outside the Inn was wholly depressing. People were crying in the streets bemoaning the fact they were trapped in the game. I suppose people just gave up, you can't really blame them. It's been four days and we are still in this game. I'm just now getting the drive to go out and potentially risk my own neck. But even in the beta, I didn't die until I reached the fifth floor.

Things didn't get better as I got out of town. The starting newbie garden was packed shoulder to shoulder with players arguing over kills. Every plot of grass seemed to be picked clean the moment any herbs or mining nodes appears on the ground. Multiple players would dog pile any boar that spawned in the area.

"Stop kill stealing my boars!" A player cried out in anger.

Lashing back, the other player screamed, "I was here first, go find your own area to hunt!"

Unfortunately, during their intense argument, one of the players wasn't paying attention to his HP gauge, which was already in the yellow. Instead of healing between fights, they were rushing to the next kill. Then a boar spawned directly behind; then the system rolled the dice and the boar struck him, landing a critical hit. A surprised look over came his face, then he shattered into countless glass like polygon fragments. The player arguing with him screamed in panic, then started to dash towards the starting city. All the players in the area shook with momentary fear as they witnessed the scene, and then frantically rushed to kill the next boar.

Then I realized, no one in this area were using Skills. They were all waving their weapons wildly in an uncouth manner. But things were too hectic here, I needed to get away from the pack. Well, that's what I thought, but no matter where I went on the first floor, all the monsters weak enough for me to kill were being farmed heavily. I was never going to make any progress at this rate.

Parking my rear underneath a tree I began to look around lost in thought. Around that time I noticed that up on a high plateau there were monsters that no one was killing. But why? As my eyes focused on the monster, I could see they were of the appropriate strength once the indicator appeared above them. Hopping to my feet, I made my way over the plateau and walked along its base. There was no way up. It was one of those locations that players were meant to see but never go to. The steep base around the plateau was practically impossible to scale.

A large grin came to my face as I spoke aloud to myself, _"It's no different than other MMORPG's I've played."_

As a casual player who spent all of his time hunting other players in open world environments, knowing the land and locations of ambush and safety were key. Even when those locations were not really meant for players to use. In the old days they called us "Explorers". The players who found gaps in walls or ways to scale to impossible heights to reach areas developers never meant for us to find. Sometimes players would find easter eggs(things developers placed in the game as an inside joke) the developers left behind, while others just found unrendered planes of nothingness. If I could do that here and reach these places that other players couldn't...

Then a dread overcame me as I continued down that thought process. Frequently, when you entered areas you were never meant to explore, there would be holes in the world. You'd fall right through the game. If I did this, I'd need to be cautious. But if I didn't do something soon, all these panicked players would be higher level than me, and I stand out enough already.

If I remember correctly from the beta, the high hill behind the plateau was a level 5 area. The monsters might be tough, but I could run around them easily enough. Maybe I could find a safe way to drop down. That cold sweat caused me to shake again. I can't count the amount of times I died trying to drop down to areas. Falling damage was a problem, but I had to resign myself to taking some risks.

Climbing up and around to that higher level area, I sprinted as hard as I could past all the monsters. I attracted quite a load of them. I believe the the term used in the old days was "training." Not training in a since of improving yourself, but like the vehicle, a train, due to the fact you had a long line of mobs following you. Then as I got to the edge of the cliff that looked down on the plateau, I realized there was no turning back.

"What the hell was I thinking!" I cried aloud.

In front of me was a cliff and behind me was a large mass of tree ents rushing to clobber me. With mild hesitation, I began to slide down the incredibly steep cliff. I instantly lost my balance and began to roll and bounce. Each heavy bounce I lost some HP. Hurriedly, I pulled my spear from my back and dug it into the side of the dirt cliff. While in town most objects had the "Immortal Object" flag and could no be damaged, some of the environment in the fields were somewhat destructible. It was mainly for skills that caused ground impacts to show a disturbed ground effect. Such as a heavy great hammer swing striking the ground, cracks would flux through the ground. But any damage to the environment quickly was patched.

Then I struck the ground. HP: (3/425)

"Ahaha... ha..." I laughed.

But then I screamed loudly. All the monsters chasing me tumbled over the cliff after me. I covered my head and cringed as they began to strike the ground around my general vicinity, shattering into polygons as they struck the ground.

I peeked out from under my arms which were clutching my head and saw that none of them survived, then a deep sense of regret over came me, "Ah damnit! I should have at least poke them or something, the amount of exp I would have gotten from them dying would have pushed me up a few levels easy!"

You can't gain exp from a monster dying unless you damage them in some way first.

As I pulled myself upright, I summoned the pouch Agil gave me earlier, and began to eat. The taste was incredibly bland. Once I finished my small meal, I hoisted myself up with a spear and noticed my HP was back to full. I then lunged forth and began to stab the over sized birds that called this plateau their home.

Over the next few hours I reached level 5. It was a lot easier to level without people screeching at you and fighting over kills. I stayed away from the outer edge of the plateau to avoid being seen. I didn't want other players attempting this. It might cause unwarranted deaths. However, as I reached level 5, a new Spear Skill appeared.

"Gale Thrust"

It was one of the rarer spear skills. I was surprised to see it this early on. I know the skills were somewhat random... But basically this ability was a powerful forward thrust that knocked back enemies a good 10 meters.

"That... that's it!" I clamored myself together.

Quickly, I slid down the plateau back down into the newbie garden where people were still fighting over boars. A few people saw me, but nothing was said, they were too focused. But I didn't have time to waste. I sprinted back up to the level 5 area where the tree ents were. My plan was simple, but I wanted to try it out on a single one first. Slowly, I crept up on a tree ent near the edge of the cliff and activated Gale Thrust.

The system assist kicked in and with deadly precision I propelled my spear forward. As it struck the tree ent, it launched off the cliff. After a few moments, my TNL bar(experience till next level) increased by a fair amount.

"It works!" I hurled my fist in the air triumphantly.

Next, I rounded up a huge pack of the tree ents. Thankfully, they were incredibly slow and easy to lead around. I ran to the cliff and waited for them to get close, then activated a basic AGI type spear skill, "Flanking Strike". With an incredible swiftness, I felt myself swoop around behind the large pack of ents, and my spear propelled forward to strike the one I targeted.

"Skill Chain: Gale Thrust!"

The last hit on my flanking strike combo(or first one really) became Gale Thrust. The force of the thrust pushed every single ent off the cliff. Lights danced around me as I gained two whole levels.

"Eh...heh... heheh..." I was thrilled with myself.

I continued to execute this tactic until I found myself far above the levels of everyone else in the area, and moved along, staying ahead of the pack in unpopulated areas where my tactics couldn't be viewed. I got to a level where the mobs on the first floor were giving such little exp, that to even see a noticeable increase, I'd have to lead a massive pack of them to the edge of the first floor and push them off. Then one day, monsters on the first floor stopped giving exp all together. I was too high level to receive it. It was around that time I heard a small group of people cleared the area and the first boss was defeated. Slowly yet surely, people continued to clear each floor with increasing speed.

0oooooo0

We were on the thirty third floor now. It was reminiscent of a tropical paradise. Islands dotted a sea like area and the main island was home of a very dangerous jungle. In my usual manner I was in a high place that I probably was never meant to reach, but over the past few months I've learned ways to get up steep locations and enter areas that I liked to call "Fluff Areas." They were areas in the game players weren't suppose to be able to reach that usually had some monsters there. It was to give an illusion of "off in the distance" it was a place to be viewed from a distance but never reached. To give the game a back drop of sorts.

From these heights, I would watch players and monitor groups and their progression. I guess it was a habit from my PK days. But now, there is no way that I could do something like that. Their real lives were at stake. It would be no different than murder. But still, it was some form of entertainment, and the information brokers paid well for updates on certain groups. Mainly a guild called the Knights of Bloods. It was an up and coming guild. They didn't have many members, but the ones they had were strong. Their leader was pretty radical. I never could find his hunting locations, yet he still remained higher level than me most likely from what I could tell from the ease at which he was dispatching monsters. Another player of interest was Kirito, the Black Swordsman. He was a somewhat infamous player among the front line. He was a known beater, someone who played the beta. Like most net players, they will whine about anyone with an advantage. That is why I have always kept my methods a secret. Though I realized that my Gale Thrust skill shouldn't be my only means, and I have started leveling normally in my own isolated areas. But back to the topic at hand, he seems to be on friendly terms with Agil, who is a good friend of mine. So I have been hesitant to sell him out. That Kirito, he's far above most of the other players he moves around with. He may be a well known beater, but I think a lot of those hot blooded meat heads who call him that knew how strong he really was... well, I am just surprised Kirito hasn't put them in their place. I would have.

After lounging a bit, I decided to make my way up a bit higher in the fluff area that I was exploring. Carefully I poked my spear into the ground ahead of me feeling for world holes. After confirming the area was safe, I peeked over the zone boundary and saw something I wasn't expecting. On the over side of the cliff face was an island with a small bridge going out to it. It looked like an entrance to a dungeon was on the island. But we already found the dungeon entrance in another location.

"Secret Dungeon." I murmured, "So there are secrets hidden deeply just like any other game.

But on the other side of the cliff face where most of the players were, there was no way to get to that bridge. I saw something that I wasn't suppose to see. From above I spotted a secret dungeon entrance before it was even revealed. Eagerly, I slid down the cliff face towards the secret dungeon. Not to go into the dungeon myself, I avoided those places. Too many guaranteed death traps for my taste as a soloer. But selling information on a secret dungeon would give me that money I needed for a house.

When I go all the way down, I reached the bridge quickly. Looking over to the island, I could see some monsters gathered at the cave entrance that went down into what was probably an ocean caverns type dungeon. On the other side of the bridge was the cave which was probably the exit of the secret entrance to the area. That's where I headed. Winding down the cave, I killed a few easy monsters. Glow Grubs, nothing special about them other than the fact they give light to dark caves with their bio luminescence. As I reached the end(or the beginning depending on how you look at it) of the cave, there was a rickety wooden door. I gave it a good shoulder bash, and it crumbled. Pushing out of the door only lead to thick vines. As I pushed through them I stumbled out into a familiar area, almost colliding with another player.

"Whoa!" He shouted, "Watch where your go- Where did you come from?"

"Uh..." I hesitated.

"A secret passage?" He asked?

It wasn't long till the frontlines players arrived to investigate the Secret Dungeon. It was a new concept. A secondary dungeon located on a floor was unheard of. The scouting party went in first. It wasn't even ten minutes before they came rushing back out.

"DRAGON!" The first one shouted.

Everyone was a bit shocked, and battle plans were immediately being drawn up on the small island outside the dungeon. However, much to everyone's surprise, Heathcliff announced that the Knights of Blood were not to take part in this dungeon, and he quickly excused himself. A chestnut haired girl that was accompanying him seemed to protest greatly as she followed him away from the meeting.

The first attempt began, but they quickly retreated. Many claimed the dragon was invulnerable. Only Spear users could damage the dragon, but they did so little damage that there was no way even with a full force of 49 Spear users to actually beat it. While usually all this would interest me, I was still pouting over the fact that I didn't get to sell the information.

After a few more attempts and retreats, most of the front line players decreed that a special item was needed to beat the dragon or they needed to come back after becoming much stronger at higher levels. The front lines dispersed. Eventually all the stragglers left as well. Around that time I slid down from my high perch in the fluff area and made my way to the cave entrance. From what the front lines were discussing, the dragon doesn't attack unless you get too close. So I decided to take a peek. Maybe I could find SOMETHING interesting to sale to the information brokers.

The inside was a tidal cave like dungeon just as suspected with a sleeping dragon at its center. Large spiraling stone path ways went all the way up to the ceiling of the surprisingly well lit cave. Phosphorescent glowing moss gave the cave an impressive ambience.

I kept my minimum of 30 meters from the dragon as I edged around, getting a better look at him. He had a deep blue sheen to his scales that made me envious. I always used scale armor. I loved it's flexibility and durability. It had a high protection against slashing and piercing attacks, but it didn't absorb blunt strikes as well. But few monsters didn't use sharp teeth or claws. Swords were the prevalent weapon of choice among players anyway. Not many people uses maces or great hammers.

"If only I could get some of those scales..." I day dreamed.

Slowly, I approached one of the stone pathways that led up to the ceiling. The moment I set foot on the path, the dragon rose it's head.

"So you wish to take the trial?" It spoke in an overwhelming voice that shook the cave.

The front lines never mentioned quest text! What is this? Did I meet some condition that they didn't?

"No, I don't wish to take the trial, I will leave." I spoke back.

"You cannot back out now!" The dragon's voice roared out.

The entrance to the cave slammed shut and the dragon charged me.

"Oh shit! You have got to be kidding me!" I screamed out as I hopped over the stone path way and started to put some distance between the dragon and myself.

I don't fight bosses! This isn't my territory! Damn damn damnit!

As I looped around the stalagmites the dragon swiped furiously at me. He moved in quickly and snapped at me with his row of razor sharp sword like teeth. I lunged backwards and activated Gale Thrust, plunging the spear into his face. Now, Gale Thrust wouldn't work on boss monsters the same way it did on normal monsters, it would only unbalance them and leave an opening.

As the Tidal Dragon staggered back slightly, I screamed in half shock half terror as I activated the Hexagram Heartseeker skill. It was suppose to be a 5 hit combo that repeatedly jabbed the enemies vitals(i.e. it's heart) but all that was in front of me was the dragons heads. Three beautiful hits landed on its right eye and then two on its left. The dragon collapsed and roared as it shook it's head back and forth. I began to climb the spiraling stone walk ways that lead to the ceiling hoping there was a secondary exit. But all it did was lead to the ceiling.

"What are these damned things here for then?" I screamed angrily.

However, when I looked down, I spotted a large red gem implanted into the dragons back. He was a good three stories below me at this point despite being two stories tall.

"A weak spot?" I asked myself.

I didn't have time to think about it, as soon as the dragon recovered his sight, I was toast. With a great jump I careened down towards the dragon. I lowered the trip of my spear before I landed, and it thrusted straight down into the red gem like scale on it's back. The dragon screeched out in a horrible pain, then shattered into polygons. LEVEL UP! Jumped in front of me. I was in utter shock.

"I made it..." I sighed heavily.

After taking a moment to collect myself I looked down at the loot window for the dragon. There was only one item, a quest item: "Ethereal Dragon Heart."

I looted it and looked at it in my inventory. The lore text simply said: "The remaining essence of a dragon." And it had the option: "Use" I considered selling it, but this isn't something you could find everyday. Besides I think it's probably character bound.

With little hesitation, I hit the use command. A light jumped out of my inventory and surrounded my body. With a bit of surprise, a secondary skill slot bar appeared but was grayed out. There was also a new skill in my window. A toggable passive much like other unique skills that popped up that let you equip certain weapons or perform a certain set of skills.

It was called: "Sky Siege"

Upon activating it, my slot bar for skills faded and the greyed out bar over took my previous bar. In the top right of my vision, opposite to my health bar, a spiraling loading symbol appeared and loaded from 0 to 100% over the course of 10 seconds.

"Sky Siege Mode activated." A sterile female voice range out in my head as the same words appeared in the middle of that spiraling load symbol.

I had a new skill active: "Jump"

"What kind of lame excuse of an ability is that?" I griped, "I don't need an ability to-"

Then it hit me. That old rpg class trope. The Dragoon had jumping abilities. Lancers or Dragoons were a somewhat popular theme back then weren't they? What if...

I bent my knees slightly to jump and the system assist took over, and the next thing I knew I was flying at a high rate towards the ceiling with little effort.

"This... is AMAZ-"

THUD! My head struck the ceiling. I completely blacked out.

END CHAPTER ONE


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Hunted

Despite not feeling pain in this game, you could still get exhausted and you could still get hungry. Smash your head into a hard surface hard enough and you'd still get knocked out. That brief moment where my head struck the ceiling, I saw my already low HP plummet. Surely, the fall afterwards would have killed me. But then I started to wake up. I heard someone grumbling in an aggravated tone. A light broke in the darkness of my haze as my eyes cracked open. I was being carried, well, it was more like I was being dragged or towed. As my eyes fully opened, my vision was full of chestnut colored hair. This girl had taken one of my arms over her shoulder and was dragging me through the dense foliage of the 33rd floor.

"Stupid Americans!" She growled in Japanese, "Who passes out in the middle of a dungeon? More so, where did that dragon go to?"

Her name was Asuna I think? She was a member of the Knights of Blood. She was one of the few attractive girls in the game, so she was pretty popular. Though, she couldn't be any older than fifteen or sixteen, far too young for me. I was already at the ripe old age of twenty two. As I fully regained my senses, I started to stand up straight. In response to my sudden movement, Asuna squeaked in a surprised manner.

"How long were you awake?" She snarled lightly.

Over the past few months my Japanese had gotten a lot better. It wasn't perfect, but with Agil's help and the fact I was dealing with overly eager information brokers, I was picking it up fast.

"My head just cleared up." I replied.

A resounding wallop crossed the side of my head as she reprimanded me with a shout, "What were you thinking? Going in the dungeon alone? Honestly!"

"Ah, uhm... I just wanted to investigate things but then the dragon woke up and the door slammed shut..." I mumbled to myself still not completely out of my daze, "Then when it died..."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"What do you mean 'it died'! ?" Asuna was in quite a bit of disbelief.

As she looked onto this tall young man, she couldn't peg him. His Japanese was a bit rough, but she was fairly certain he said the dragon died. He looked just as confused and lost as she was about the subject himself. For a moment, his mind trailed off into its own world. His face lit up widely as his right fist came down into his left palm as if he realized something, "_I have to try that out!_"

Asuna's brow furrowed as he spoke to himself in English. She was well aware of what he said. She was the top of her English class of course. She wasn't fluent, but she prided herself in being the best in her grade. As she remembered this, a bit of homesickness started to overcome her.

The young American boy started to hurry off before catching himself. He turned to Asuna and gave a wide goofy smile that reminded her of a mischievous expression that frequented Agil's face as he spoke in Japanese, "Thank you, I'll pay you back... eventually."

"Wait just a second!" Asuna barked as he began to rush off into the forest, "What did you mean that 'it died'?"

Asuna growled angrily yet again. There was no way she was letting him get away. Her speed was one of her greatest prides in this game. She was confident that no one would be able to match how fast she could run. However, as she caught up to him, he simply disappeared around the corner of a large tree trunk. As she turned around the corner herself, he was gone. This was too much for a simple hiding skill.

Letting lose an annoyed groan, Asuna kicked the tree in a frustrated manner, "Damn American, I'm going to find you! And you ARE going to explain!"

She had seen the American before. He was always at boss clearing meetings, but he never took part. The young man wore expensive scale armor and used a Long Spear. Most spearmen used a short spear or a lance in tandem with a shield. Long Spears were a two handed weapon that had one of the highest attack powers in the game, right above battle axes and great hammers, but it left you open to attacks due to the lack of defensive options. Battle axes could cripple enemies and great hammers could knock them off balance. The Long Spear was different. It was a fully offensive weapon that's sole purpose was piercing an enemy's defense and then deal fatal damage. Many players were afraid to use long spears due to their unwieldy attacks that left them open for counter attacks. The fact that he was doing so well without a party while using a weapon that forced you to be protected by others while you deal out heavy damage was a bit mystifying. It was always frustrating to never see him take part; it was possible that he could be one of the highest damage dealers in the game currently. Asuna even heard he bought the Gaebolg rare drop long spear that one of the front line's men won off of a floor boss with a hefty chunk of Col. Very few players used long spears, so no one else on the front line could use it.

With a deep sigh, Asuna sat down on the edge of a strangely devoid field. It was an oddly peaceful location. The floor was fairly dangerous in general, so seeing an area so clear of monsters was a relaxing sight. Just as she was about to settle down and open up a meal, a voice range out behind her in a hushed tone.

"This isn't good." A familiar voice caused her to jump.

Asuna turned around and saw that it was the American, she instantly swelled up, "You! You are going to explain everything!"

"Shh!" The young man's face was deathly serious; it was the same as Kirito's when he sensed trouble.

"Wha-what's going on."

"This field isn't supposed to be empty." His pale green eyes shimmered slightly, "It usually had approximately thirty eight to forty two cockatrices."

"So?" Asuna replied, "Maybe someone hunted it clean."

"It's too clean." He replied, "When you are hunting monsters, isn't there a lot of trash loot that you don't take because it doesn't sell for much and takes up too much inventory space to bother with?"

"Well, yeah..." Asuna narrowed her eyes.

"So usually, you just leave the items in the dead monster's inventory and a glowing indicator floats above the ground showing where unlooted items could be picked up." He continued to explain in strangely clear Japanese, he seems to hold a better vernacular when talking about games.

"What's the big deal?" Asuna asked, "Someone might just loot them, then destroy the item."

"Exactly, why would they be doing that? Looking at your inventory screen and selecting the delete option then confirming takes around fifteen seconds. It's too inefficient while hunting and you might be ambushed by a respawned monster. There is no point in it if there is no value to be had." He continued.

"Unless... maybe they didn't want other people to see the glowing orbs indicating unlooted monsters?" Asuna replied.

"Exactly!" He confirmed.

"You can't mean..." Asuna's eyes grew wide, "Orange players?"

0o0o0o0o0

There was a trick that PKer's used in open world hunting to find other players in the past few games that I played. This trick in particular was to look for the corpses of monsters. Corpses or after glows(glowing remnants that remain instead of a corpse) that have yet to despawn are one of the main tells letting a player know that another was hunting in the area. On PK servers in America, many players made it routine to clean up corpses by looting everything in them and destroying the items so other players couldn't find them by this method.

It was too late, my detection skill kicked in and I sensed a group of players using the Sneak skill to approach us. Their skill had to be pretty high for them to get this close without my high detection skill catching them. They surely have been watching Asuna for a while then. Perhaps they saw her trudging along carrying my unconscious self.

"How is your Hiding skill?" I asked swiftly.

"I... never learned it, there was no reason to, a lot of monsters can see through it." Asuna stammered a bit, "But why are there orange players on the front lines? That's unheard of!"

"If you can't hide, we need to make a run for it." I pulled her to her feet.

"Not so fast gaijin-san." A man dropped from the tree above us.

He had a red indicator(meaing that he's killed players), not just an orange one. My old PK instincts kicked in and without hesitation or any kind of response, I activated the Piercing Spiral skill. The spear spun like a drill in my hands as I struck forth at a high speed, running the spear straight through the red player's chest. His armor shattered and his HP instantly dropped to the red threshold thanks to the Opening Strike bonus that Long Spears had. As I pulled my spear from his chest, I brought it around my back, and activated Hexagram Heartseeker. His HP would bottom out if only one hit landed. But I was suddenly tackled from the side.

"You idiot!" Asuna screamed, "Do you want to be a murder! ?"

It was fight or flight instinct, red means dead. You kill or be killed. How could she save a murderer in this situation?

"Don't you see?" I growled back at her, "He's the 'Finisher' of the group. The one who deals the killing blow after the orange players beat you up!"

The red player laid on the ground grasping his chest, still in shock by how quickly his health bar dropped. Nearly every piece of armor he wore had the 'broken' flag. While Asuna and I argued, the rest of the orange players descended. I knew Asuna was strong, but how would she fair against players? Would she have the resolve to kill in self defense? In America, the idea of killing to prevent oneself from being killed is a bit more accepted. We have a law to protect those who kill in self defense in states like Texas. Even Florida(where I am from) has a Domain law. But Japan is different in their values. It really made me consider just how much I should value life.

"Get out of here, I will lose them." I spoke lowly to Asuna.

"Haaa?" Asuna seemed belligerent, "I'm quite capable."

"If you don't want anyone to die, I have to use my own methods of dealing with them, so get out of here!"

While arguing, an orange player lunged at me with a great sword. I spun my spear, around and parried the great sword with the blunt end of my spear shaft before driving the edge of my spear into his shoulder. As another player flanked me, but I ducked low under his dagger slice, and tripped him a low sweep from my spear.

Asuna's eyes widened as she muttered, "He isn't using the system assist..." She was a bit stunned. While his reaction time was nowhere near that of Kirito's, his ability to predict player movement and calmly place himself in the most strategic position was frightening.

More orange players showed up. Was there a whole guild of them? We became completely surrounded. A lot of the orange players were laughing loudly. It was then I noticed all of them had tattoos of a manga drawn skeleton clutching a coffin. I ran countless scenarios at a rapid pace in my head of how to get out without killing anyone. But all of them involved a minimum of five deaths.

"Unless..." I muttered.

I activated that skill. A new HUD appeared in my vision as Sky Siege began its loading sequence. As it charged, my body gleamed with a dim light. The ground around my feet pulsed lightly with air. My body felt incredibly light.

"Hang on!" I grabbed Asuna and swept her up in my arms.

"What are you doing?" She seemed to panic.

The Jump skill activated and I was propelled high off of the ground moving straight up. Asuna screamed the whole way up. It was like one of those drop rides at the amusement park that moved up at an incredibly fast rate.

"What was tha... we went straight up! Even if we survive the fall, they will be waiting on us below!" Asuna snarled while screeching.

I looked around in a mild panicked state myself. But then I saw a jungle lizardman in the distance roaming down a path way. As my eyes locked on him, a Sky Siege themed targeting reticule appeared around it's body. As I continued to focus and tried to move towards him, the Jump ability icon flipped and became "Dive." Suddenly, I was being propelled downward at an angle towards the lizardman. Asuna began to scream all over again.

"We're going to die from fall damage! How is this any better! ?" She continued wailing.

My spear found its way into the back of the lizardman, who instantly shattered. A massive damage number appeared as I landed on him, and several other messages popped up.

"Sneak Attack Bonus!"

"Opening Strike Bonus!"

"Back Attack Bonus!"

"Critical Hit!"

And the most important one...

"Sky Siege Blessing: Immune to fall damage!"

We both collapsed to the ground as Asuna gripped the grass around her tightly. Both of us were in a bit of shock.

"What... was that...?" Asuna struggled out.

"Um, system glitch?" I lied playfully.

Asuna reared back and walloped me with her small fist in a reprimand once again.

"That was quite the surprising display." A voice rang out from behind us.

Asuna turned around swiftly, "Leader!"

I looked up at a man I was overly familiar with. Not personally, but he was the debate of many information brokers. Heathcliff, the invincible leader of the Knights of Blood. His eyes wore a cold calculation that I recognized. One of my strongest strengths in the real world was my ability to read people, be it their facial expressions or habits. That's what made me so strong in PK in games despite having worse gear than my opposition. I was able to predict what people were going to do with a high accuracy. In SAO where facial expressions were difficult to hide, it was incredibly easy to see everything running across a players mind.

Despite the charismatic tone the man spoke with, his cold eyes that were locked onto me were full of a cold possessiveness. I was being looked at as if I was cattle or live stock. No matter what voice came from his lips, the eyes were the window to the soul, even in this world of polygons. Something about him never set right with me, but now I felt like I was staring down the barrel of a gun. Even if his intentions were to put me to use in someone way to clear this game, I am fully confident that he would have no qualms about using as a sacrificial pawn if it came down to it.

He extended his hand down towards me as if to help me up, "With such skills, why I have I never seen you join the front lines?"

"I'm too cowardly for that sort of work." I chuckled, trying my best to fake a jovial amusement, then stood up without taking his hand.

He retracted his hand slowly, "Surely that is not the case, you had it in you to kill that dragon, did you not?"

My eyes narrowed in on him, but then I smiled, "Corner a rat and he may bite, but that was a scripted event with an obvious means of victory. But I guess the way isn't too obvious unless you get cornered."

How could he possibly know that I defeated the dragon? Was he outside the dungeon before the doors closed? Was he hiding inside?

"What if you had strong allies to stand with?" Heathcliff asked, "What if you had players at your side who were on the same level of strength as yourself that could watched your back? As a soloer, it can be difficult on the front lines because if something happens to you, you may very well have no one to come to your rescue. With the Knights of Blood, we greatly limit that risk."

"Leader?" Asuna asked hesitantly.

"That's..." My mind began to race.

A hand came down on my shoulder, "Don't you want out of this world too? If you fear death to such an extent, wouldn't you rather be out of this game of death sooner? You obviously have something to live for."

I let loose a deep sigh and back away, "No, I'm not interested, death is waaay too terrifying for me, I will just go at my own pace. That fight with the Tidal Cave's Dragon was plenty enough excitement for me. After I get enough Col, I was thinking of retiring to the 22nd floor and joining that fishing guild that was starting up, that should let me kill time till you guys get the game cleared."

"That's... terrible!" Asuna gaped.

"Sorry." I replied, "I'm just a big ole coward."

"How can you say that after you came back and jumped into the middle of all those orange players for my sake?" Asuna grew angry.

I scratched the back of my head and laughed lightly, "You were standing right next to where I was hiding, and the skill's duration wore out."

"How selfish of you." Heathcliff's tone did not change despite my display, "Don't you feel ashamed for that type of attitude."

"Well, that's how it is!" I forced a final goofy grin.

Asuna looked devastated. She fully bought into my act. Heathcliff, however, never broke his piercing hawk like stare that was locked onto me since the moment he appeared. Knowing full well he would not be the type to let me disagree easily with his offer, I sprinted off quickly much to Asuna's surprise. Then something impossible happened. He was running along side me.

This man in full plate armor carrying an unwieldy bastard sword and a shield kept up with me, "With us you can live a much easier life, all you have to do is assist us when the need calls."

I was close to a gap in a wall I discovered a few days ago, if I could slip into there, I could climb up to a fluff area where he couldn't reach me. But then the impossible happened. He darted ahead of me and took position in front of the gap in the wall. When I say gap, I mean, it looks like there is a wall there. There is texture, but they never added any solidity to it. They weren't complete holds in the side of the game like world holes, but usually ledges that weren't quite properly textured. Getting in these wedges allowed you to shimmy up walls you weren't meant to reach, without anyone seeing me. However, this man, could he have known where the gap was? Or was he just positioning himself in front of me? At that moment a knowing expression came across his face.

"You know..." I was caught a bit off guard.

"You won't need such tricks with us." Heathcliff continued, "We will give you a much higher survival rate."

A message appeared in my HUD, offering for me to join the Knights of Blood.

(Yes/No?)

"That's quite forceful of you." I lowered my eyebrows.

"We can be of use to each other." He replied in his same monotone voice.

So this was the natural born leader and the Invincible Paladin, Heathcliff. I heard that he was great commander and that he was well loved by his suborinates. But the man I am seeing was following a strict Machiavellian approach. He was acting a part. It was all in his eyes. Something about this man scared the hell out of me and I wasn't sure what it was. I portrayed myself as a coward and he adjusted his little speech to fit the situation. He had his sights set on recruiting me, but I wanted no part of that. I had to think of way to make myself look less desirable.

With a relenting sigh I lowered my shoulders as my fingers idly danced around the "Yes" option. But then I stopped and began to pace around.

"Well?" He asked.

"I'm thinking!" I said in an almost irritated tone, "You make some good points, granted. But I'm till skeptical."

"Come in for just a week, after that trial, if you are unhappy, you may leave." Heathcliff offered.

Yeah yeah, and for a limited time you can get a limited addition Knights of Blood fruit blender! Even if you aren't satisfied with our free membership trial, feel free to keep the blender! Like I haven't heard that method before, I graduated with a degree in Marketing for goodness sake.

Finally, I pressed the button and Heathcliff vaguely smiled with satisfaction, "Welcome to the Knights of-"

About that time he should have received the "This player has declined your invitation." message. As he looked back up at me with mild shock, I finally saw that calm face of his break into bewilderment. Because what he saw was me in the act of using my left hand index finger to pull down the bottom of my left eye lid, with my right hand holding up the bird, and I also had my tongue stuck out, waggling furiously with spittle as I made a raspberry sound. While he was still reeling in disbelief, I activated jump again and launched off into the wild blue yonder. If only I had dropped an F bomb before leaving, I am sure that would have completed the American stereotype that was probably dancing around like an obnoxious child in his mind.

Sorry Asuna, I'll make it up to you later.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Leader... I'm sorry about that, I don't..." Asuna began, "I didn't realize you were going to recruit him."

"No, Asuna-kun*." Heathcliff replied, "It was my fault for the tactics I decided to use, I misread his character."

"He seems flighty and... immature for his age." Asuna replied.

"Perhaps not." Heathcliff narrowed his eye suspiciously, "Either way, what do you know about him?"

"I found him alone in that secret dungeon sprawled out unconscious, I think he hit his head or something to that degree." Asuna explained.

"Hit his head?" Heathcliff paused, then a small chuckle came to him, something Asuna had never seen before.

"How did you..." Asuna blinked before stopping herself before changing the subject, "That skill he used, is that why you tried to invite him the KoB? It seems strange for you to invite a random stranger, especially one as wild as him."

"He protected you and displayed a lot of skill in his fight with those players." Heathcliff explained, "His personality and skill requirements pass brilliantly in my view."

"But we still know nothing about him, and who knows if we will see him again." Asuna brought her hand to her mouth as she pondered, "We don't even know his name."

"Oh, I wouldn't say our little engagement was a total loss." Heathcliff held a very mild grin on his face as he looked at the guild invite decline message.

"Reis has declined your invitation to join Knights of Blood."

Chapter 2 End

* The -kun suffix, such as Asuna-kun, while usually meant to be a diminutive for males, can be used with females by a male superior in a business or military situation.


	3. Chapter 3

((Author's Notes: Just as a head's up, I rewrote a good portion of Heathcliff's scene in chapter 2. I really wasn't happy with the shallow portrayal that I gave of him. I went back and really elaborated on that scene. While the outcome hasn't changed, I feel that it didn't deserve to be such a weak scene in that chapter.)

Chapter 3: Snowblind

Roaring winds caressed my cheeks while my hair blew back rapidly as I descended. I had found a new love in this game as I soared through the skies. It was a feeling of freedom that I had never experienced before. Surely, if this were the real world, my eyes would be sealed tightly shut from the intensity of the air pressing building up against my face and my exposed facial skin would be greatly windburnt. My spear firmly found its way into the back of the yeti like Tusksnarl that was minding its own business next a large glacial formation. The snow exploded into a large cloud as the air pressure from my landing pushed it outward in a perfect radius from the epicenter at the point of my impact. At first, I was terrified of the fall. It took quite a few jumps before I got use that vertigo of falling and the fear of striking the ground. But each time, as my feet landed, it was as if my whole body became lined with incredibly powerful shocks which absorbed the impact.

The yeti cried out as its HP greatly decreased. Even with all the damage multiplying bonuses I could achieve with this jump, past the 40th floor I wasn't able to kill some of the larger ones in a single hit as I could previously. I quickly pulled my spear out of the Tusksnarl's back before ducking as it spiraled around swinging its large fist in a backhand towards my midsection. While still mid spiral, I used its own momentum as I shoulder bunted its rib cage, causing the large beast to tumble to the ground. I lifted my spear high into the air with the intention of bringing down the spear into the center of its chest. However, before I could deal the final blow, another much larger yeti rose from the snow, blindsiding me with his massive fist.

I rolled across the snow top as I tumbled out of control. This was a perfect example of one of the weaknesses of Sky Siege mode being active. I had no stability whatsoever due to the innate featherlight status that came with the whole package. Unless I was in the "Dive" portion of the Jump skill, I was very close to being weightless. Guarding an attack could lead to me being thrown backwards a good distance just from the force of the blow. While I could instantly drop Sky Siege Mode, it took ten second to re-engage. In exchange, armor weight was nullified completely(not weapons) while this featherlight aspect was active. Even when Sky Siege mode was not active, there seemed to be some sort of passive 70% armor weight reduction. Due to this fact, I bid goodbye to my lovely scale armor and started collecting rare pieces of plate equipment, which had a much higher armor and durability rating.

Digging my spear through the snow and dirt, I caught myself and planted my feet firmly onto the ground. The smaller Tusksnarl was off in the distance, kneeling down, crippled by his low HP. Though, the larger one was already in a full charge, sprinting in my direction. Aiming low, I activated Gale Thrust and struck the large yeti's knee, knocking its legs out from under it. The beast careened downward face first as I ran past it. I took small leap and flew through the air, landing on the smaller yeti. This was not a "Jump" skill however. While the featherlight aspect of Sky Siege mode rendered me near weightless, allowing me to jump great distances. Though it was nothing compared to height and damage the system assisted skill "Jump" could attain. Originally, on the first day I acquired this Skill, there was a five minute reuse period on Jump before I could activate the skill again. After gaining a few levels, this recharge period is down to three minutes twenty five seconds. It seems to scale down with higher levels.

The larger yeti's footsteps felt like they were right behind me, I turned and activated Hexagram Heartseeker as quickly as possible. As my rapid attacks began to pierce into its chest, the beast began to breathe down a powerful frost breath. It was unavoidable; I was still in the middle of a skill. My HP began to plummet, and I received the "chilled" status affect. My body grew cold and it was difficult to move. As the final strike of my skill finished, he still had half of his HP remaining. My HP had become dangerously low. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down before I succumbed to panic. Tightly, I clenched a teleportation crystal I had resting right under my chest plate and prepared to use it. Suddenly, the beast froze in place. I wasn't sure if it was a glitch in the system or if my attacks had some unintended secondary effect. But then a player walked out from behind the yeti. The cloaked man pulled out one of the many small needles, and gingerly stabbed it into the beast's side. The monster's body tensed up to an even greater degree.

"Paralysis Poison." I murmured quietly to myself.

Where did this guy come from? My detection skill was top notch and I am still not registering him. Does that cloak have some crazy bonus to the Sneak skill that I just can't overcome at my level? A strong sense of worry came over me as a grin came to his face. The hood was pulled down so far that all I could see were his lips and chin. Finally, as he came even closer, my detection skill finally picked him up. My eyes weakened heavily when the cursor appeared over his head. He was a red player, a full PK. My body could barely move now, and this player was looming over me with a sinister smirk. He had no idea that I had a crystal clutched to my chest; it most likely looked like I was grasping myself trying to breath, unable to move from the chilled effect. This was a valuable chance for information; I just had to be prepared to use the crystal before he could use one of those needles.

"You really put a hurting on ole Johnny back on the 33rd floor." He spoke finally spoke up in perfect english, "I saw it, you know."

Johnny? I kept quiet.

"Half of his armor was irreparable after that wicked attack you planted in his chest." The cloaked man knelt down next to me, "You were fully intending on killing him weren't you?'

I gave a single weak laugh as I began to put on my act again, "I almost had him too."

"That's what I like about you." He nodded before standing up, "You were a PKer before you came to this game weren't you?"

"You would be the type to know wouldn't you?" I feigned arrogance while clutching the teleport crystal tighter.

Suddenly, the large Tusksnarl began to move slightly, causing the cloaked man to make a "Tsk" sound with his tongue in annoyance.

"It's show time." He sneered as he stood up.

That phrase, I knew it from somewhere, but I couldn't place my finger on it. My mind quickly dismissed this déjà vu as I witnessed his sleight of hand, which was incredibly impressive. All I could see was his hand extending forward towards the beast, but suddenly, a large dagger was planted into its forehead. Then countless smaller daggers flowed from his sleeve and perforated the large beast's body. It shattered instantly, but this player's gaze remained locked on me the entire time.

"You know I was thinking." He began again, "Resourceful players such as yourself and I who have no desire to risk their necks on the front line need a place for ourselves. I have a few followers now, but it's not enough. Eventually, we will have enough players and funds to start our own guild with full functionality."

So, I am being scouted again. This time though, by a much more dangerous sect of players. How do I handle this? Should I just teleport out now? When was I on everyone's radar? I wanted to blame this new skill set I was gifted with, but the truth was... hell who knows. In the midst of quietly bemoaning my new found popularity, the cloaked man's face contorted slightly. Perhaps my expressions gave me away or perhaps this entire time he was just lost in monologue because he is a self centered sadistic bastard, but he suddenly decided to raise his knife.

"But..." His raised arm remained looming above me, "I don't think you have it in you to kill unless you are threatened in some way. Which is a shame if you really think abo-"

CLANK! The hooded man was suddenly ejected from my view as I heard what could only be described as a hollow metal baseball bat striking a home run ball. My ears were still ringing from the resonating sound. My eyes widened as I watched him bounce across the snow before slamming into the side of a nearby glacier protruding from the ground. Looking up, I saw raven black hair flowing aloft the thick snowfall along with a pair of piercing crystalline blue eyes that held a wild glare locked onto the hooded man.

"_You still breathin'_?" She spoke English.

"I should be okay." I nodded hesitantly as I glanced at her incredibly heavy looking full metal bo staff with weighted ends. In fact, the only part of the staff that was not weighted was it's center grip. It was incredibly odd seeing such a petite girl wielding such an unruly weapon. I popped an expensive Refresher Crystal which removed the chilled status before cracking an equally costly Healing Crystal. The girl's glare turned down on me with mild irritation.

"Whaaat?" She spoke Japanese this time, sounding annoyed before switching back to English, "_You were just fakin' it_?"

What a peculiar girl. It was hard to judge her age from her size versus her facial features and skinny body type. If I had to guess, she was a mixed Japanese blood. The English she was speaking sounded influenced from either England or Australia, but it was so watered down with an American tinge, that I couldn't tell. To be honest, I was never good with accents.

"_Well, get off your rear and help out, we don't want this one to get away do we_?" She grinned toothily down at me, offering me a hand.

A smile just couldn't help but to find its way across my face as I reached up and took her surprisingly warm hand, "_No, no we don't_."

As soon as she pulled me up, she kicked off the snow and propelled herself towards him. It wasn't that she was fast, but her strength was so ridiculously high, that the force alone was enough to give her speed and momentum as she launched herself. The hooded player didn't hesitate. With an elegant hand gesture, he fired a volley of daggers in a wide spread in her path way.

"Uuuraaaa~!" She cried out as she spun in a tight 360, bringing that massive metal bo staff in a wide arc.

The force of her swing was so great, that the wind it was generating blew back all of the daggers that were traveling through the air. Before he could launch another volley, the girl suddenly slammed her bo staff onto the ground, causing a huge cloud of snow to explode around her, obscuring the hooded man's view. Conveniently, the cloud of snow was situated between myself and the hooded man. Using this opportunity, I activated Jump.

As the girl launched from the snow cloud towards the hooded man, surprisingly, the hooded man rushed her head on. After closing into a distance where it would be difficult for her to react, he flung a tiny needle coated in paralytic poison. As it stabbed into her arm, she tensed up and her eyes grew wide. A twisted grin came to the hooded man's face as he rushed in close run to her, brandishing an overly large dagger that seemed to be his main weapon.

Suddenly, the girl's facial expression shifted from a tense paralyzed scowl to a playfully sinister grin, "Jus' kidding!"

CLANK! Once more the hooded man was knocked silly and propelled through the air. Just how high was this girl's VIT stat for the poison to have its duration reduced to just a few seconds? What kind of a monstrous build is she using?

"Now where did he-" The girl began as she turned to see where I was.

The girl swiftly turned as she heard the hooded man gasp, just in time to see me plummeting from the sky towards him, gleaming with the light of an active Skill. He tucked and rolled out of the way, but the Dive portion of the skill auto corrected and my course remained true onto him. This was a lock on ability after all. I'm assuming he realized this fact, but it was too late. In an incredible display of focus, the hooded man used the massive dagger to parry my spear the moment before impact. Instead of striking his chest directly, the spear plunged through both the dagger and his shoulder, taking his arm off at the joint. At that very moment, he released several wide spread smoke bombs that exploded, covering the whole field. By the time it cleared, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Che~!" The girl made a frustrated sound, "I can't believe he got away!"

"It can't be helped." I sighed.

"But still..." She whimpered.

It was all I could do to stifle the chuckled that was trying to well up within me. When she spoke Japanese, she was overly cute. It was a huge contrast to the harsh tomboyish tone she took when she spoke English. I just shook my head as I approached her. A toothy smile jumped across her cat like face as I approached.

She boldly held her hand out, "I'm Chelsea!"

"Reis." I replied as I took her hand.

"It makes sense!" She replied, "Wasn't Reis part of the whole Dragoon theme in those old console RPG games?"

"Yeah, that's where I got the idea originally." I smirked.

"Wait, wasn't Reis a girl in that one game where she actually made an appearance?" Chelsea questioned.

"Yeah, this character was originally a girl." I laughed, scratching the back of my head.

An awkward look crossed her face in response.

"Ehhh..." She looked at me suspiciously, "So you are one of those."

"Not really, I was just curious if it would actually let me make a female character. I was intending on deleting the character and starting over as a male." I grinned in a less than incriminating way, "I wasn't expecting to not be able to log out."

Chelsea moved in close to me and started elbowing me teasingly, "Are you sure you didn't have any perverted ideas?"

Poking her forehead in an equally playful response, pushing her back lightly, "Just what are you suggesting, hmmm? You couldn't possibly think that I was doing something that I was most obviously probably not wouldn't be taking part in would you?"

Her face contorted slightly with a smirk at my suggestive double talk.

"Well..." Chelsea did a half twist as she hopped back away from me, "I'm just as guilty, this character was originally a male."

"Ehhh..." I mimicked her earlier response, "But you named him Chelsea?"

"He was a really cute male!" She spoke full of justification as if that made sense.

Chelsea. That named suddenly rang a bell. I heard about her from a few information brokers. Her nickname was "The Tiny Behemoth" or "The Little Leviathan", a berserker type player that had an ungodly amount of VIT and STR stat, forsaking all AGI and DEX. The force of her blows were so heavy that even if she didn't land a direct hit, the collateral was enough to do the job. She was an expert boss slayer on the frontlines and was known for her high detention rate when it came to criminal players. The weapon she used was "The Gigas Rod", a rare boss drop she got from clearing the 30th floor. I heard it had an incredibly high knock back effect associated with it.

"So, that jumping skill you used, is that something that Long Spear users learn eventually? If that was known, there would be a lot more of them..." She questioned.

"I'm not sure to be honest." I chuckled wearily, scratching the back of my head.

"Either way, if you ever want to party up, feel free to message me." She grinned as she brought up her drop down menu.

A friend request lit up on my screen, "Chelsea is requesting to add you to her friends list."

With a quick button press, my friends list appeared.

(Friends Online 1/1)  
Chelsea (42nd Floor, The Glacial Tundra)

Acting as if it was perfectly natural, Chelsea approached me before taking my face into her hands and peering into my eyes as if studying me. Her hands felt the contours of my face for a few seconds. Before I could shake the minor shock that I felt from her forward actions, she backed away from me and placed her hands on her hips.

"I was right, you're a good person!" She spoke cheerfully.

"Is that so?" I smirked helplessly.

After idling around for a moment and kicking the snow, she looked up and smiled again, "It's getting late, I'm going to turn in for the night."

"Sweet dreams." I returned her smile.

"And..." Her smile became a dark glare as she switched to English, "_If you see any PK players, send me a message immediately_."

She smiled sweetly again then gave me the peace sign as she teleported out.

Putting my hands on my hips I shook my head lightly, "There are all kinds of people here aren't there?"

Something did bug me however. She asked if all Long Spear users were capable of learning these Dragoon-like abilities. I was curious about this myself. It has been a while since I've killed that dragon. Does he respawn? I brought my fist up to my chin mimicking Agil for a moment as I pondered. There was only one way to find out.

A small chime I had never heard before suddenly rang out while my HUD appeared on my screen with a message, "You have a new message! (1)"

Upon opening it up, I received a friend message from Chelsea complete with emoticons, "There's nothing like a warm shower and a bed after fighting in the snow! XD Sleep well, I'm coming to find you tomorrow! 3"

"Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into?" I lamented with a smile, but I couldn't say that I was bothered. Lowering my shoulders in yet another helpless motion, I pulled out a teleportation crystal and held it to the sky, vanishing.

It was a few hours later that I found myself standing on the bridge that extended out to the island where the Tidal Caves use to be on the 33rd floor. But now, there was only ocean. The edge of the bridge was broken away and mangled as if a tidal wave ripped it asunder. Sitting at the edge of the bridge under the stars, I let out a deep sigh, "This game certainly is full of mysteries."

"It certainly is." A slithering voice crept up behind me.

Turning around quickly, I was met by yet another man in black, dressed similarly to the PK players I met earlier. A large wicked black scythe hung from his back. I quickly spun my spear around my elbow in an elegant gesture, lining it up in my hands, pointing it towards him. A full Cheshire grin came to his face as his fox like eyes opened slightly.

"It really is you isn't it?" He laughed.

My eyes narrowed curiously.

"The way you handled yourself during our raid on that Flash girl earlier, how you led on PoH as he went about showing off..." He continued, "Then you introduced yourself to that girl as Reis."

He was watching me, but wait, what did he say?

"PoH?" The name sent chills down my spine, "Then you..."

"I knew you did you damnedest to get into OUR games, but who would have thought I'd find you here in SAO." He let out an exasperated laugh, "Do you plan on ruining our fun in this place too?"

"That scythe... you're Geshoku!" My eyes widened.

"I knew it was you. I knew it!" He rolled around laughing before sitting straight up with a murderous face , "I knew I smelled American trash."

Geshoku was part of one of the few Japanese PK guilds on the last MMO that I played, which was a Japanese local game that I downloaded. His guild was notorious for griefing and harassing players on a daily basis. They were widely hated, but "PoH" the leader of that guild was wickedly strong and thanks to his abusive tactics, he had quite the load of powerful gear. Few players could stop his assaults. While I couldn't do anything about PoH, I enjoyed hunting the other members of his guild and "spoiling their fun." One in particular went out of his way to try and hunt me down. His name was Geshoku. He has an intense hatred for Americans and petitioned to the GMs multiple times to get my IP banned. But his pleas fell on deaf ears. He had too many strikes against his account already. His hate for Americans was so intense, he would PK people for the simple reason of not having black hair or having brightly colored eyes. Because only American's have hair and eye colors other than black? Am I right? I never did try to understand his moronic logic. But there was something I did to him that infuriated him greatly beyond simply being American, but I couldn't remember just what it was...

"When I first realized who you were, I felt as if this beautiful world had been dirtied..." He started to monologue, "But now I realize this is a blessing. I get to kill you for real this time. But not yet, I want you to live in fear as my comrades stalk you and hunt you down."

This is definitely a monologue.

Geshoku turned his back to me revealing the rare scythe in his possession. Trying to act like a badass, he started to walk away but he was still speaking, "Wait for me Reis, I will be the one who will deal the final blow when you draw your last breath in this-"

My fist came down loudly in my palm, "Oh yeah! You were the guy I use to teabag all the time!"

Geshoku tripped and fell flat on his face while mid sentence.

End Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Frontlines

The new message alert chimed once more. This time it read, "Okay, seriously, this isn't funny anymore. I've circled this building over twenty times now and I don't see you. Is there some sort of secret entrance?"

White fog exhaled lightly out of my mouth as I stifled a chuckle. Stretching my arms over my head, I leaned back crossing my arms behind my head. Quietly, I rested against the warm chimney of the house I was sitting atop of. I'll admit, I was far too easily amused by watching her circle the house so many times without even looking up. It was as if she never considered that anyone could get up here. But ever since I received the Sky Siege skill set, I've been to a lot of places that I shouldn't have been able to reach. The house I was on top of didn't have any real entrance; it was placed in this winter themed town for flavor. It was becoming obvious that she was getting fed up and I personally couldn't take it anymore; so I let out a loud whistle. Her head instantly crooked upward in response to the sound. A look of a woman scorned ignited in her eyes as she spotted the wholly entertained expression on my face.

"_You ass_!" English slipped from her lips.

Chelsea knelt down low to the ground and lunged upwards toward me with an impressive jump. But it was just short of the final third story of the house. At an angle, I slid down the roof and caught her fully extended arm and pulled her up. The moment she was stable on her feet, she drew her fist back and walloped me right on my crown. Around that time I started to wonder if all women had a penchant for bashing in the skulls of men or if I held a special property within my personality that provoked a deeper nature unknown by most.

"You are such a child!" She grumbled.

"Maybe you just need a better sense of humor?" I smirked back at her.

"I have an amazing sense of humor." She dusted herself off before looking up at me, "And I think it would be real funny to see how far across town I can punt you from the top of this..."

She paused as she finally saw the view looking across town. The sun was perfectly rising between the dual clock towers that rested in the middle of town. At that moment, both clock towers began to resound in a chiming duet of a calming melody. All of the frustration that was built up on Chelsea's face was instantly washed away. Around that time I think she noticed that I was watching her facial expressions rather than the vibrant display that was being played out off in the distance.

An inquisitive look crossed her face, "You timed this didn't you? That's why you let me wander around trying to locate you using the friend finder."

"I'm not that clever." I laughed, "It just happened to work out that way."

A suspicious yet playful look traced across her eyes before she crossed her arms and started to wear a less than honest stubborn look, "Well, I guess I can forgive you for your childish behavior. But only this once!"

"Yes _ma'am, I will make sure to keep in mind your graciousness with all due diligence!_" I spoke jokingly in English while bowing slightly.

A toothy teasing grin grew on her face, "Oooh, was that phrase too hard for you to say in Japanese?"

I closed one eye and peeked up at her playfully with my open one, "_Would it be weird to say that I am just the slightest bit happy you thought I was even capable of saying that_?"

Chelsea paused for a moment with her own entertained expression, "You sound so different when you speak English compared to when you speak Japanese."

You're one to talk.

"They say if you want to understand the culture you need to understand the language." I replied, realizing afterwards how little that had to do with anything.

There was a momentary silence between the two of us.

"Ahhh~, that conversation became nonsensical and awkward quickly!" I extended my arms out in front of me, linking my fingers together as I stretched once more.

"It's okay, we all are weird in our own ways." She glanced over at me.

"You are making it sound like that whole bizarre conversation was my fault." I glanced back at her.

Without another word, she pushed me off the edge of the roof. I fell backwards waving my arms around momentarily before self correcting mid air and landing on my feet.

"Hey!" I shouted up at her, "What was that for?"

Following closely behind, Chelsea plummeted down from the side of the building in a much more graceful fashion than I did. With a light sashay, she made her way down the road a bit before turning on a heel to face me while smiling softly, "_You're tryin' too hard. Loosen up a bit." _

My shoulders sank slightly as a humbling sigh escaped from my mid section. I've only known this girl for two days now, and I already feel completely defeated by her. She's beating me at my own game without even trying.

"Hurry up!" She called out, "You're buying breakfast! Then we are going on a looooong hunt, I got a new tunic that I can't wear for another two levels. We're getting those two levels today."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

CLANK!

The large blue turtle wobbled through the air gracelessly. "Che~" Chelsea made an annoyed sound as the turtle activated its Harden Shell skill right before her attack connected. She always hated hunting armor type enemies due to her usage of blunt weapons. But these turtles were known to drop certain materials that would be useful for reinforcing the fur and leather armor that she preferred to wear. The sound of a swift gust soared over Chelsea's head as she looked up, shielding her eyes in the sunlight with her right hand. Reis' shadow darted across the ground as it lined up with the turtle which still has yet to land. Then with a harsh impact, the rare spear Gaebolg penetrated straight through the turtle's body, leaving behind only countless polygons.

Chelsea adeptly studied Reis' face as he landed the finishing blow on to the enemy. It was almost an expression of concern or lack of direction. It wasn't like when he fought that player the day before. While Reis was usually goofy and light hearted in nature, when he jumped into that battle, a cold calculative nature entered into his eyes. She didn't want to say they were robotic, but those eyes lacked all emotion, hesitation, and instinct. Chelsea didn't know what piece of the puzzle she was missing. Against predictable monsters, he is sloppy at best. But the feeling she got from him when he engaged that player was something completely different.

Suddenly, Reis' eyes lit up for a moment in surprise as he looked down at his skill window.

"What's up?" Chelsea asked him.

"Ah, um, I learned a new skill for my Dragoon tree it seems." He peeked over towards her.

"Go figure, you end up being the one who improves first even though this outing was meant for me." Chelsea placed her hands on her hips.

"What's it called?" Chelsea asked curiously.

"X Jump." Reis furrowed his brow, "But damn, it has a 24 hour reset time on it."

"Whoa, I've never heard of a skill taking that long to cooldown." Chelsea replied.

Reis paused a moment and rubbed his chin contemplatively.

"We've been at it for hours now; why don't we take a break?" Reis suggested.

"If you insist." Chelsea replied.

...

Chelsea watched with minor intrigued as Reis stirred the pot of turtle meat stew that was boiling over the fire. His actions were carefully coordinated as if he had gone through them countless times previously.

"Do you camp out a lot?" Chelsea asked.

"Hmmm, probably." He never looked up from the stew, "It saves money on Inns, but ever since we got to this floor, I usually go a few floors down to a cheap Inn."

"If you are so set on camping out, couldn't you just camp out on a warmer floor?" She asked.

"That's true, but after hunting out in the snow for so long, I really just want a warm bed." He gave a slightly nostalgic smile as he served up the stew, "I can't wait till this floor gets cleared; I hate extreme weathers."

Chelsea's eyes narrowed in weakly as she finally gathered the courage to ask, "Why aren't you ever with the front lines?"

Reis' hand shook unsteadily for a moment, but his facial expression remained jovial. Chelsea bit her lip trying to conceal a frown. She was afraid she struck a nerve that might end their new found friendship. There was something about Reis that gave a wholly ephemeral feeling. Like at any moment he would just soar into the sky and you'd never see him again.

"I... just don't work well with others I suppose." He smiled as he handed her a bowl of soup.

So he's the type who hides behind a smile.

"Why's that?" She tested her luck, "Don't the two of us do fine together?"

"Well..." He seemed to be searching for some explanation.

"It's true that at lower levels soloers can get exp a lot faster, but these turtles are difficult to take down alone, and the large amount of exp that they give makes up for the fact that it's split." Chelsea explained.

"That's true." He agreed as his façade of a smile drooped.

"I've seen you before you know." Chelsea pressed on, "You only soloing even though you use a weapon that is more effective in groups. You always looked like you were struggling. I couldn't help but wonder why you isolated yourself in such a way."

His head lowered slightly as an unexpectedly honest face shone through, "If I had to explain it, it would probably be something like selfishness."

"Eh?" Chelsea blinked, not expecting that response.

"Even in the games I played before, I just didn't want to work with others." He clasped his hands together, "There would be arguments over loot, blame would be pushed onto someone if things went wrong, and there were other players to consider when I wanted to take a break. When I play alone, I can do things at my pace without having to worry about others."

"Then, have I been bothering you?" Chelsea spoke without realizing how it sounded.

Reis' head came up with wide eyes, "No, not at all! I was happy to be honest. Even though I enjoy moving at my own pace, it gets lonely too you know? Especially in this game..."

Chelsea smiled warmly and rested her chin on her palm, "Well, whenever it gets lonely, send me a message and I will come and bother you, okay?"

That warm smile that he sometimes showed her appeared on his face again. It was that honest heartfelt expression that she liked best.

o0o0o0o0o

It's been a few weeks since the 50th floor was opened up, but no progress has been made against the boss in the floor dungeon. The town of Algade has become like a secondary main city in the game, especially after those of The Army have turned the first floor into an oppressive slums. Players who were behind the main lines started to catch up due to the slow progress. Algade itself is a town of total disarray. I really don't like it all. It's not aesthetically pleasing like some of the other towns, and it takes forever to get anywhere. The only reason I was roaming the streets in the first place was because I heard of a certain rumor. Slowly, I pushed open the door to a shop.

"Reis! Is that you?" Agil seemed surprised, "_I'll be damned!_"

Turning in response to Agil's reaction, the person I knew as Kirito turned as faced me as well. He offered me a light smile and nodded as our eyes mets. We've bumped into each other in the past, when Agil was still a street side merchant, then a few times more when I would eavesdrop on the front line meetings. I also have spied on his hunting grounds a few times. But Agil, I haven't seen that big ole mug in almost twenty floors.

"I'll see you later Agil." Kirito spoke back to the large man behind the counter.

"Take care of yourself, Kirito!" Agil bid him farewell as he left the shop.

"When I heard you finally got a shop of your own, I had to come see it for myself." I grinned as I sat down at the counter.

"It isn't much, but it's cozy!" He replied.

"_But why this town of all places_?" I lamented as I switched to English, "_You could have gotten a cheaper shop in a more prime location on a lower floor._

"What?" Agil stood up straight, "_You don't like the atmosphere here_?"

A new message window popped up in front of me with a chime: "Where are you? D:"

Agil grinned for a moment, "_What's this? The guy who wouldn't even friend me back on the first floor is receiving messages now?_"

"No, she just..." I began.

"_A woman, eh_?" Agil chuckled.

"_My duo partner_." I laughed slightly.

Agil crossed his arms and sighed with a smile, "_Gotta admit I am a bit relieved_."

"Why's that?" I looked up at him.

"More and more solo players are starting to die off." Agil explained, "From what I hear, monsters are starting to use patterns that require attacks from multiple sides."

"I've noticed." I clasped my hands together.

"_That Kirito is a bit more stubborn than you are when it comes to being social_." Agil continued, "_At least you are one less person I have to worry about._"

"_That Kirito..._" I began before pausing, "_He plays it safer than I did usually. He would kill large quantities of weaker mobs whereas I would try to kill stronger enemies in as few hits as possible, besides... he has quite the backup plan._"

"_You never change_." Agil peered at me suspisciously, "_You're a nosy bastard, you know that?"_

"_It's not like I went out of my way to spy on him, he just happened to get caught up in a train of monsters that were chasing me_." I explained, "_I bit off more than I could chew that day, and he for some god forsaken reason decided to take a nap at the edge of a safe zone_... _and I saw something rather impressive that day."_

The door suddenly swung open, "There you are! What's taking you so long?"

"Chelsea?" I blinked.

Agil's eye brow's raised.

Her nose scrunched slightly, "We were supposed to meet at noon!"

"But I thought it wasn't till one o'clo- hey... HEY!" I shouted.

Chelsea grabbed me by my collar and started to drag me out of Agil's shop. As I staggered backwards out of the shop, I could only look up and see a wide grin on Agil's face before he waved to me silently without a word. Remorselessly, she continued to drag me down the street, gathering the eyes of quite a few players.

"Okay! Okay!" I whimpered, "I'm coming, you can let me go now!"

She turned angrily and faced me, "You are too easy going! Where is your sense of time?"

All I could do was laugh hesitantly and scratch the back of my head in response.

"Oi oi, what's this?" A nearby player chimed in, "Did the baby behemoth finally hook herself a man?"

"More like she dragged him out kicking and screaming... literally!" A red headed player with a Long Spear chuckled, causing the rest of the men to bust out in laughter too.

They were from the Divine Dragon Alliance, one of the more successful clearing guilds on the front lines. Their attitude was pretty consistent with the boastful guilds that always ran on the forefront of online games. They over publicized every single victory and made sure everyone has heard of them. It was attention seekers like them that took the world out of MMORPGs and made them more of a horse and pony show as well as a race to the end. But in this world, the quicker it ended the better I guess you could say.

"Wait, I know that guy." One of the members spoke up, "He's that spineless spear user who is always on the highest floor but never joins the front lines. I've seen him running scared from huge packs of mobs before."

Of course I was running, I was fighting monsters at much higher strength than you ever even considered. But when you accidently pull more than you can handle, you have to leg it out of there.

"He probably had a spine at one time... but then our little baby behemoth probably turned off her ethical code off and broke it in a back alley inn!" The red headed spear user could barely contain his own laughter as he spoke.

The rest of the men exploded into laughter. Chelsea was gripping her fists tightly as they continued to berate the two of us. Obviously, she has faced this many times in the past. In response, I started to reach for my spear. Chelsea stopped me and shook her head.

"They aren't worth it." She calmly spoke.

The members of the DDA continued to let out wolf whistles and jests at us as we made our way down the street.

"Why do you take that from them?" I asked angrily.

"As. I. Said." She repeated slowly, "They aren't worth it. I have to work with them every day on the front lines and if I cause drama I may lose my place."

"Nonsense like that is why I avoid the front lines." I sneered.

"It would be a lot better if you were there with me." She said suddenly.

The way she worded that phrase made me hesitate for a moment, but then I sighed. It was this conversation again. Ever since we met, a topic of conflict between us was the fact that I never went to the front lines with her. Usually, she didn't touch on the topic, but ever since we reached the 50th floor, she's been more pushy about the subject.

"I just..." I hesitated, I found myself unable to hide behind my usual facades when I was with her.

"The boss mob you see... it's heavily armored and we can barely damage it." Chelsea moved a bit closer, "We only have one Long Spear user who can pierce that defense... that red headed guy back there. He doesn't hold a candle to you."

All I could do was cross my arms silently. In the past, I avoided the dungeons and boss fights because that is what I always did in my previous games. I just wanted to take things easy and not get in overly complex situations. But now, I was having trouble finding excuses for her and much less for myself on why I was avoiding them. Deep down I knew what it was. I was scared. Normal monsters and players can be observed. With enough study and preparation there was little to fear. Dungeons, though, had death traps that couldn't be predicted. Bosses could suddenly do something that they have never done before. I hated unpredictable situations. If I can't read the situation fully, it terrified me. That was also the reason I hated large crowds. Due to my overactive tendency to read people, I found it incredibly stressful to be in large groups of people. Despite how I acted, I am and always was terribly socially awkward. I compensated for that with my incredibly strong empathic ability to read people through facial expressions, speech, and body gestures. By reading their reactions I could adjust my own behavior. This was neigh impossible if not incredibly stressful for me to be in a guild or on the frontlines.

"I'll take that as a no then..." Chelsea suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

"Well..." I felt ashamed.

"The truth is I have no real affiliations." Chelsea began, "I have friends in multiple guilds, but I am not a part of any of them. They will always save their guild mates before me. Bosses are getting to the point I can just rush in and clobber them while the tanks do their job. And because I don't have anyone with me, I've considered accepting the offer to join a particular guild."

"I sure as hell hope it wasn't with those guys back there." I barked out.

Chelsea shook her head, "No, of course not. It's a guild that one of my closer friends has been in for a long time."

"I see..." I remained solemn.

"What I am saying is... When I do join this guild I probably won't be as free to go off and hunt with you." She continued, "I'll have duties."

Just like every friendship that I've ever had in the past on these games. They never last. My lack of drive to do anything always pushes people away. It's best to send her off with a smile, I don't want her to leave with too many bad memories of me.

"They will be lucky to have you." I placed my hands on her shoulders and grinned widely.

"_I really hate that fake smile you know."_ She replied bluntly.

With that, she slung her large metal bo staff over her shoulder and quietly walked off in the direction that led out of town and to the floor's dungeon. It felt like a small portion of me was crushed. I've been through these lost friendships before, but it never hurt this badly.

o0o0o0o0o

As Chelsea approached the boss room entrance, the front lines had already gathered and they were debating the group composition to tackle the boss. Only 49 people, seven groups of seven could enter at a time. As people fell back with teleport crystals or... died, reinforcements would move in. But not as many people showed up today. Everyone was getting nervous since they lost two people the day before. They would only have a few backups.

"Today will be different." The red headed long spear player from earlier spoke out, "I've learned a rare long spear weapon skill that allows me to penetrate defenses."

"Oooh!" A few players expressed sounds of being impressed.

"It's called Hexagram Heartseeker." He boasted.

Chelsea couldn't help laugh to herself quietly. Reis had learned that move ages ago. That shows just how little that red headed guy did any of the work himself. When you are in a large party, you get in a lot fewer attacks in, so your weapon skills progress less quickly. But wait, that attack only exploited weaknesses, it didn't penetrate defensives...

"That attack..." Chelsea spoke up, "That doesn't break through defenses, does it?"

"What would you know baby behemoth?" He snapped back at her.

Chelsea gritted her teeth slightly, _"Idiots like him will get us killed."_

...

Blow after blow came down from two particular arms of the massive metallic six-armed Buddha shaped boss. All Chelsea could do was keep a firm footing and use her bo staff to absorb the shock from the blows. Each strike caused her to be more and more exhausted. Then she looked over and saw Heathcliff standing right at the base of the boss, taking the full brunt of the bosses attacks without even a drop of sweat falling. "Che" She exasperated as she pushed forward into the boss with a new found vigor.

"If he can do it, so can I!" She cried out.

"Get a clearing for me!" The red headed player called out.

Kirito and Asuna moved in tandem to each of his sides, striking wildly, but doing little damage. It did cause the boss to part his inner arms, allowing the red head to rush in.

"Hexagram... HEARTSEEKER!" He cried out as if it made any difference.

Tink tink tink tink tink ... TINK. The boss wasn't fazed at all. One of the interior arms swept inward, knocking the red headed spearman away. With his patented piercing attack failing, a few players began to panic.

"We can't win!" Someone called out before using a teleportation crystal.

"No, you fool!" The leader of the Divine Dragon Alliance screamed, "The boss will..."

This set off a chain reaction of players abandoning their positions and teleporting to safety. The front line began to collapse and three players were struck down simultaneously as the boss entered a blood lusted rage that seemed to be triggered from players exiting the arena. Even though things seemed hopeless, with amazing fortitude Heathcliff continued to enduring the bosses absurdly rapid assaults. Kirito and Asuna never let us their fierce attacks even though little was done in the ways of assaulting his HP. Eventually, the boss entered a deeper rampage as time continued to drag on and more players exited the arena. It was untelling how much time had passed since Heathcliff took the forefront alone.

Then, the Buddha turned its sights onto Chelsea and raised its arms high into the air. As the boss's full fury came down, Heathcliff moved in and shield bashed upwards towards the arm. The counter force of his shield bash used along with shield block, nullified much of the impact. Heathcliff dug in his heels as the boss furiously wailed into his shield. It was almost shocking to see how much punishment Heathcliff was taking.

Heathcliff finally pushed away and Chelsea scrambled to her feet and began to retreat to the side of the boss room. However, as the boss's rampaging continued, Heathcliff wasn't able to block one of the hands. The hand extended out and formed into a sharp spike before launching towards Chelsea's back.

"Chelsea!" Asuna screamed out.

Chelsea turned around just in time to see the spike approaching her. It was too late, there was nothing she could do. She wasn't an AGI type player who could have dodged it. Her HP was already low enough as it was. A tear came to her eye as she clenched her teeth. Right before the spike struck her, a familiar spear launched from behind her, followed by an intense gust of wind that knocked the spike's trajectory off course, causing it to careen into a wall.

It was the Gale Thrust skill.

"Reis!" Chelsea cried out, clinging onto his armor.

"Those guys, they just kept appearing in town one after another, but you never showed up." Reis struggled to smile, "I got a bit worried..."

Asuna's eyes grew wide as she saw Reis, who avoided dungeons like a plague, finally show up. As she saw Reis and Chelsea exchanging a few words, she realized that he was the one Chelsea always spoke of.

Reis took a deep breath as he looked up at the boss. At that moment his eyes changed. That terrifying calm and calculative nature began to spread across his whole body. He lowered his spear tip close to the ground before turning back to Chelsea.

"_Hey._" He spoke in an uncharacteristically serious tone, "_Remember when we fought that turtle boss back on the 42__nd__ floor for the shale gloves_?"

"Y-Yeah..." Chelsea blinked confusedly for a moment, before growing furious with him, "You..._ You can't be fuckin' serious! This is a floor boss, not some push over quest mob! A stunt like that will get you killed!_"

His expression didn't change, he simply moved in front of her and said, "_Get ready_."

"_If you die, it's on you, not me_!" Chelsea barked loudly as she began to bring the metal bo staff in a wide 360 degree arc. Reis jumped back slightly to her side, and realigned himself mid air as his feet landed on her bo staff. She swung around with a loud scream and launched him towards the boss.

"You idiot!" Kirito cried out as he watched the absurd stunt.

Reis was propelled straight towards the abdomen of the boss. Right before colliding with the boss, he lit up with a dull light. His spear began to spiral in his hand as he planted the Piercing Spiral attack straight into the boss's large gut. The outer metallic sheen around its stomach fractured, and larges plates of it began to fall away. The boss cried out loudly and brought its arms high into the air. They all came spiraling down at Reis from all angles, leaving him nowhere to escape to.

"REIS!" Asuna called out as all fists collided. The dust settled and the arms began to retract. There was nothing left of him to be seen.

"Don't let his sacrifice be in vain!" Heathcliff called out, "Punish the opening he gave us!"

"Look up!" Chelsea called out.

Everyone's eyes went skyward. Reis had just reached the apex of the ceiling; his calm calculative eyes now had an overly serious and almost angry look to them as he once again corrected himself mid air, his feet collided with the ceiling and absorbed the shock. He then pushed off the ceiling into his dive. The boss looked up just in time for him to plant his spear into its forehead, shattering the plating across its face as well.

As all of the bosses arms came up from the ground to strike Reis, Asuna rushed into and began to pelt the boss's lower exposed stomach with rapid strikes. Its HP began to noticeably drop. This did not dissuade the boss from continuing to use all of its arms to strike at Reis, who was digging the spear into its forehead.

"He's really in trouble this time!" Chelsea called out, "He can only Jump once every two or so minutes!"

"Reis!" Asuna called out, "Get down from there!"

However, the arms all swarmed him. Then Chelsea noticed that he was glowing vibrantly unlike anything she had ever seen before. He suddenly propelled upward off the boss at a speed that was five times quicker than that of a normal jump. In a similar blurred speed he came down and landed on the boss's spine where it connects to his neck, causing the boss to lean forward slightly and cry out in pain. The moment he landed, he propelled back off the boss again and came down again. Then again, and again... and again. Each time he landed on the boss, its head came closer to the floor.

"X Jump." Chelsea blinked, "He finally used it."

As Reis rose up into the air for his final jump, he cried out, "KIRITO!"

"Right!" Kirito called back, as he rushed forward.

The final jump lingered in the air for a moment as light gathered around Reis, then he came down and struck the boss's back with a great impact. The boss's massive head came almost down to the floor. Kirito was already brightly aglow with his own weapon skill, sprinting at full speed towards the boss. The moment the boss's exposed head came down into range, Kirito plunged his sword deep into its skull. A few moments later, the boss shattered into countless polygons.

o0o0o0o0o0o

I was still breathing heavily, propped up against a wall when Chelsea suddenly tackled me, "I can't believe you actually came!"

She poked my cheek playfully, "You said you were worried about me... Eh? Eh?" She continued to poke and tease.

"Yeah yeah... I was worried about you." I ruffled her hair.

We both looked up in time to see Kirito press the "Last Strike" bonus item award. A long yet slender black sword appeared in his hand; he quietly whispered, "Elucidator." He took the sword in hand and spiraled around in a few elegant motions as he checked the weight. The blade seemed overly heavy for its size, but Kirito seemed to be content with the blade.

Heathcliff suddenly came between me and my view of Kirito. He approached slowly, with his eyes locked in on me once again. Despite his valiant effort against that boss, and how well he held everything together as I preformed my stupid little stunt, something about him was setting off all my instincts.

"I believe you earned this." He spoke plainly as he opened up the boss's loot window.

**The Crimson Phantasm**  
Long Spear, Two handed  
Range: Medium  
Type: Piercing  
Attack: 925-995  
Durability: 1550  
Weight: 325  
Requires: 64

Equip: +42  
Strength: +58  
Dexterity: +49  
Passive Ability: Bloodmist  
Weapon becomes vorpal during weapon skills, and converts 2% of the damage into HP.

"This is..." My eyes traced across the stats.

To be perfectly honest, it has low damage for a long spear of this level. Its damage was only on par with a Greatsword or so. Not to say its attack power isn't leaps and bounds higher than what I currently have, but that special ability is really something else. The vorpal flag during weapon skills is also a double edged benefit in its self. The vorpal flag means that it can pass through all weapons and armor, but that means during weapon skills, I can't use it to block. Frequently, I would counter an enemy attack with my own. It's a fully offensive weapon. The HP restore is nice, but it would only be useful over a long stretch. The restored health wouldn't be enough at a time to save anyone.

"Use it well, and I hope to see you using it on the front lines in the future." Heathcliff peered down towards me.

"That's bullshit!" The red headed man called out, "I've risked my life on the front lines way more times than this spineless freak, why does he get the loot?"

"You've seen your fair share of undeserved loot." Heathcliff glared at him.

The spearman recoiled, speechlessly.

"Also, Chelsea." Heathcliff turned to her, "I believe we need to talk."

"Ah, okay!" Chelsea hopped up.

I watched in the distance as Chelsea and Heathcliff had a discussion that I couldn't quite make out. Suddenly, Chelsea's eyes grew bright and she nodded. Heathcliff opened up a window and sent her a guild invitation. She happily accepted as Asuna wrapped her arms around her in a jovial manner.

"So Asuna was that friend." I sighed slightly, "You gotta be kidding me."

Heathcliff then turned and looked back at me. As our eyes met once again, he smiled slightly and placed a hand on Chelsea's shoulder and began to lead her away.

"That bastard." I murmured.

Then I noticed as I looked around, weary glances were being shot towards me. The red headed spearman from the DDA also was also cautiously looking at me as well. Despite everything I just did, no one was running over to thank me or congratulate me on the loot. I was met with disdain and suspicion. It was just like every other experience I've ever had in these situations. A sickly feeling welled up in my stomach. The only thing that came from this was another stupid piece of loot. Why did I even... Well, I did save a few people's lives I guess. But still...

To hell with it. I'm tired of being the one left out. I'm tired of second guessing everything I'm doing. Something about that bastard doesn't sit right with me and it's been bugging me for months now. I'll either find out whats going on or... well, either way it's a win win situation for me.

"Hey Heathcliff, you bastard." I called out, causing him to turn towards me, "Where do you think you are going with my duo partner?"

While a few of the Knights of the Blood swelled up from my disrespectful tone, Heathcliff could only smile.

ooooooo

"I can't believe you decided to join with me!" Chelsea was beaming.

Dejectedly, I scratched the back of my head, "Yeah, me either."

It was the 39th floor, and the two of us were standing in the hallway of the dormitory area in the Knights of the Blood guild hall. We were assigned rooms next to each other for the moment as new recruits. Our inauguration was tomorrow. My decision to join was a stupid move spurred on by his successful tactics. I didn't want to leave Chelsea in his hands alone. To be honest, I didn't want to be separated at all from her either. But this way I could keep an eye on him, and on Chelsea. Perhaps my curiosity was what got the best of me.

"Well, it's been a long day, why don't we turn in for the night." I suggested.

Chelsea simply nodded with rosy cheeks. We both went into our respective rooms. The beds were hard and not that comfortable. I tossed and turned a few times thinking it would be better just to camp out somewhere or go rent an Inn room. Even the cheap ones had comfortable beds. But this whole guild hall seemed make shift and temporary. We're they planning on moving into a bigger place in the future?

Just as my wandering mind began to succumb to sleep, there was a knock at my door.

"Are you still awake?" Chelsea's voice called through the crack of the wooden door frame.

"Yeah...?" I answered.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"Sure." I quietly called back.

Chelsea came into the room slowly, wrapped in her blanket. Quietly, she shut the door behind her and shuffled through the darkness before sitting on the edge of my bed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep." She replied simply.

"Too excited about tomorrow?" My eyes narrowed curiously at her imagine waning in the moon light.

"Yeah." She said quietly as she turned to face me before she started to craw from the foot of the bed towards me. As she approached, the blanket fell away and she was wearing nothing but a nightgown.

"Um, you know... you're-" I started.

Without another word she pressed her lips to my mine and kissed me deeply, almost forcibly. My ethics code window popped up, offering me to send her to jail. I dismissed it as quickly as I could. By this time, I had sat up, and she was firmly planted in my lap with an alluring look resting on her face.

"I kept waiting for you to make a move, but you never would." She said quietly.

"Chelsea..." I spoke quietly, "But, you know... I'm a lot older than I may look in game. I'm twenty three now... you know?"

A confused look crossed Chelsea's face as I stumbled over my words, "So?"

"I don't know if Japan does it differently, but the age of consent in America is..." I began, but the look on her face left me froze.

She was pissed, her head crooked to one side, "How old do I look to you?"

Nervously, I looked away, "I'd rather not..."

Chelsea balled her fist up.

"Fifteen... maybe sixteen?" I answered truthfully.

Chelsea forced me back down onto the bed, "What if I am?"

"I was planning on waiting till you were older before..." I stopped myself.

Chelsea suddenly smiled softly, "I'll be twenty in two weeks."

"What?" I blinked.

"I'm serious." She said again, as she moved back down to me and kissed me once more.

Nothing came to mind, the only thing I could say as I laughed slightly was, "Well then, just don't break my spine."

"_You are such an ass._" She smirked as she exacted her revenge by biting down onto my shoulder blade with her small sharp teeth as I took her into my arms.

End Chapter


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Jungle

The sound of a light misting rain gently tapping on the window brought me out of what I would consider to be the most restful sleep I have had since entering this world. Chelsea was tightly knotted up against my chest with her face fully concealed. All I could see was long flowing black hair that eventually disappeared down into the thin blankets that covered the rickety bed we were laying on. A contented sigh softly escaped as I buried my head back into my pillow. Amidst the calming sound of the rain, a sudden knock came to our door.

"New recruit! You are an hour late!" An annoyed voice called out loudly before complaining in a slightly lower voice, "That little she-devil goes missing and now this one is lazy..."

Two large sapphire eyes suddenly peeked up from the mass of raven hair with a wide eyed worried expression, "_Not good..."_

In a flurry, we launched out of the bed and began to open our equipment windows as quickly as possible. Piece by piece, our casual clothes began to reappear as we hazily fumbled with the floating buttons. But then, I lost my balance as my pants reappeared and I fell forward with a loud thud.

"Are you okay in there?" The voice called out again, "It sounds like there's a scuffle!"

"_We are SO busted_." Chelsea quietly bemoaned in an almost amused manner.

"I'm executing my rights over the guild dormitory to open the door." He spoke in an equally pestering mannerism.

The door to my room swung open suddenly as if a poltergeist was plowing through the room. Following close behind, was a tall man with long greasy hair and parted bangs. Both Chelsea and I froze as he walked in. Chelsea's top had just materialized and I was still shirtless. A slightly disturbed sneer came to the man's face as realization moved through his mind at a rapid pace. His right hand came up to his face as he began to rub the bridge of his nose frustratedly.

"We have no rules about relationships within the guild, as I even have someone who is special to me." He looked up towards us, "But there is a time and place, and you are both Knights of the Blood now. This does not bode well for your future, especially with your already rocky reputation."

All I could do was give a wide grin and scratch the back of my head embarrassedly.

"I am your senior, Kuradeel." He gave a haughty introduction, "The Leader sent me to pick you up."

The walk down the hallway towards Heathcliff's meeting area felt especially long due to how quiet everyone had become. The night before, Chelsea and I leapt forward out of our friendship in a spur of the moment way. I'm not sure either of us knew exactly what to say or do at this point. Though, Chelsea did seem to have that same old playful sway in her walk as she moved down the halls beside me. If it wasn't for the glaring silence, I am sure she would be humming a tune as she usually would when we were traveling. I don't think she is regretting anything, but now isn't the time to talk, especially with this overly gloomy looking fellow leading us down the hall.

"The Leader is strict, don't expect to go unpunished." He sharply spoke as stood next to a pair of large double doors.

As we pushed through the oversized double doors and entered into the meeting room, the first thing I noticed was this particularly ornate helmetless suit of armor sitting in the middle of the room. It had a bright white-silver sheen. The shoulder plates were adorned with small red crosses while the abdomen section seemed to have a large crystalline ruby plate folded in with the rest of the armor. The fingers of the gauntlets were slightly clawed and the boots were sharp and imposing. If the armor was black, it would look like something an evil warlord from an older RPG might have worn. The whole feel of the armor was that of a purified dark knight. Despite the ominous presence of the armor, it was not bulky at all. It was sleek and conforming. Intricate links held the armor together, surely giving it a lot of flexibility. It was a brilliantly designed piece.

"Welcome." Heathcliff's stirring voice called out from behind his desk, "I can see you are already admiring that fine piece of hand crafted armor."

My gaze finally turned onto that man with a slow reluctance, "It's quite impressive and very expensive looking."

"It was indeed costly to create." Heathcliff clasped his hands together, "Silver-steel is one of the more rare and harder to refine materials."

"I didn't think there was a smith out there that could refine silver-steel yet." I replied with a slightly ostentatious disbelief, "Melding the protective properties of blessed silver with steel requires you to fortify it with crystallite ore."

A slightly confident smile came to his face, "People with such skills tend to keep quiet as to avoid attention; I am certain you are familiar with such behavior."

While my attention was so wholly absorbed in my mental standoff with Heathcliff, that it took me a while to notice that Chelsea was not looking at him at all. A worried look rested upon her face as her gaze was affixed onto me. When I looked down at her with a questioning expression, she clenched the corner of my shirt lightly. As well as I thought I had come to know her over the past few months, I was still unsure of what she was thinking sometimes in these situations.

"Anyways, the reason I called you here besides your inauguration, which you missed by the way..." Heathcliff paused a moment, "...was to assign you two to your duties."

"I understand there is a hierarchy, however, if you put me under the command of someone like that depressed looking grease ball you have standing outside, I will walk away from the guild without hesitation." I drew out a very clear line in the sand.

"Of course, I am fully aware of your stance and how you regard our organization." Heathcliff unclasped his hands and held them out in an open gesture, "I fully intend to use your skills in a way you are more comfortable or familiar with."

Crossing my arms, "I'm listening."

"I am assigning you and Chelsea to your own vanguard unit." Heathcliff began, "The only people you will be reporting to will be myself and Asuna, who you both seem to have a good relationship with. I feel Asuna needs a bit more responsibility, so I believe this would be a good experience for everyone involved."

"Vanguard?" Chelsea finally spoke up, "You mean you want us to map out floors and dungeons?"

"Not exactly." Heathcliff turned to Chelsea, "Your duties will focus on something a little more specific. Do you remember the forty second floor, the tropical island themed area with the large outdoor dungeon?"

Chelsea nodded slightly with a mildly perplexed expression.

"Well, the entrance to the dungeon on fifty first floor was simple to find." Heathcliff continued, "There was a large rounded stone ruins in the distance right as you left town. A large rune sealed door is blocking the entrance. We have reason to believe there is an item from the forty second floor that opens the dungeon on the fifty first. It is still somewhat a rumor though."

"I've never heard of anything like that before." My eyes narrowed, "So far, all of the dungeon entrances have had their solutions on the same floor."

"We felt the same way, but the ruins of the fifty first's dungeon were far too similar to the ruins in a hidden area we found on the forty second floor." Heathcliff explained.

"There were no ruins on the forty second floor." I replied sharply.

"None that you found." Heathcliff grinned slightly, "A few members located a tidal cave hidden much in the same way as the dragon cave that you discovered. However, the monsters were much higher level than anything else on the floor. In fact, they were the same strength as the ones on the fifty first floor. The ancient golems that were found deeper in by some of my scouts were just like the ones roaming outside the dungeon on the fifty first."

"So, why are you sending me and Chelsea if you already have scouts exploring the area?" I asked.

Heathcliff grinned, "Excellent question. You see, after we left the forty second floor, it became fairly desolated. The two original scouts from the DDA who went into the secret area in hopes of unlocking the fifty first dungeon both died."

Chelsea's eyes narrowed.

"They were killed by players according to the wall." Heathcliff became serious, "The next scouting group of three who went in were also killed."

Chelsea's hand clenched into a fist.

"Chelsea, due to your past and anti-PK build, I thought that you would be willing and able to handle this job." Heathcliff gestured to her.

Chelsea remained silent. Anti-PK build? She was primarily STR and VIT if I remember correctly. Ah, that's right. Vitality lowers poison duration and if high enough can render you out right immune to it. I thought she was going for a tough as nails HP tank build. But an Anti-PK build? Why would she...

"Reis, after watching you in multiple PK situations, I can only assume that you have extensive PK experience from previous games. You intuition into the situation and perception is probably the highest of any player who isn't a dedicated PKer."

Chelsea's resolve weakened as she turned to me, "You were a PKer?"

"In games before this one, all I did was PVP and kill other players. It was what I enjoyed the most." I turned to her.

Her facial expression was almost horrified.

Placing a hand on her head, "But death wasn't permanent in those games like it is here. I have no intention of PKing anyone unless I absolutely have to."

Chelsea's face tensed slightly before nodding.

"Basically..." Heathcliff started again.

"You want us to investigate the problem." I cut him off.

"Yes." He replied simply.

My teeth gritted together, "There is no way in hell that we would risk ourselves like-"

"I'll do it." Chelsea growled with iron resolve, "Even if he won't."

"Chelsea?" I turned towards her quickly.

"She has her own reasons." Heathcliff explained.

A frustrated sigh came out of me as I relented, "Fine, but at the first sign of trouble, we're teleporting out."

Chelsea nodded without looking at me before giving a solemn, "Alright."

A window opened on my screen as Heathcliff transferred map data of the new area on the forty second floor to us both. The two of us turned to leave after a few moments of silence. But then Heathcliff stopped us.

"Reis, aren't you taking it with you?" He asked.

"Taking what with me?" I turned back to him.

"The Holy Dragon Armor of course." Heathcliff grinned, "Would you like to have it?"

My head tilted to the side suspiciously, "That is far too expensive of a present for me to accept."

"The truth is, the person I had it made for can't wear it. It's far too heavy for him. Even though the armor is compact and lacking in mass, it is incredibly dense and heavy due to the crystallite ore forged into it. After watching how you switched from your beloved scale armor to plate piece by piece after gaining your skills as a Dragoon, I was under the assumption that you had some sort of weight reduction modifier. Especially with how deft you are in such heavy equipment." Heathcliff said, "Take it, no strings attached. You are probably the only one who can use it anyway."

"I'll be taking it then, don't expect me to give it back just because I decided to leave the guild." I sneered sharply at him before touching the armor and adding it to my inventory.

"I don't care if you leave the guild." Heathcliff narrowed his eyes in my direction, "Just don't expect any assistance from any guild if you stop showing up at the front lines."

"Che." I mimicked Chelsea's frustrated sound as I turned my back on Heathcliff and walked out of the room.

After the two of us had left, Heathcliff pulled out a silver dragon head shaped helmet from his inventory and sat it on his desk. A mildly amused smirk came to him, "I don't think he would have worn it anyway."

0o0o0o0o0

"Ahhhh~ Damnit, how did we end up dragged into this?" Reis groaned frustratedly, "I'm willing to bet they've nested up in that secret area. Do you know how hard it is to crack a PK standoff, especially when we aren't trying to PK them?"

"That's..." Chelsea tried to say something but Reis continued.

"Stopping PKs without PKing them?" Reis threw his hands up, "That's basically like trying to catch one roach at a time in a roach infested house with your bare hands... more like roaches wielding large butcher knives."

"It's not like-" Chelsea tried to jump in but once again failed.

"They probably have green players too who we can't kill... those are the trickiest." Reis continued to grumble, "They could go orange on us at any minute without hesitation, but if we engage them, we are the ones who become the criminals."

"If we have to-" Chelsea tried one more, this time grinding her own teeth.

"Why the hell are you so dead set on going into this trap anyway?" Reis turned towards Chelsea, "You've always been really harsh when it comes to PK, but this is-"

"_Shut the hell up!"_ Chelsea switch to English for a moment, "You don't have to come if you don't want to! Just stay here and hide like you always do!"

"Oh no, no way in hell! You really think I am going to let you go there all by yourself after I finally snag the girl I have been in love with for over a year?" Reis barked back at her frustratedly.

Chelsea's eyes grew wide as she felt her cheeks grow warm from blushing. However, it only lasted for a moment as an intense rage overcame her.

"I..." Reis paused after realizing what he blurted out, "I didn't mean-"

Chelsea reared back and punched Reis in the jaw with full force, sending him a good eight feet through the air before he finally crashed into the ground, "Don't be the first one to say it with such a bad atmosphere, IDIOT!"

Reis sat up while rubbing his jaw, just in time to see Chelsea stomping off. With a deep sigh, he collapsed back onto the ground and stared up at the ceiling, "That went well. Jeez..."

0o0o0o0o0

Once I arrived on the forty second floor, I opened my friend window and checked Chelsea's position. She had already covered a bit of ground and was nearing the secret area, "That stubborn little..."

Before leaving the small ocean side village that was at the start of the forty second floor, I opened up my inventory and selected the Holy Dragon Armor. My eyes widened at the stats the armor possessed. Incredibly high armor rating, elemental protection, negative status effect reduction, and even skill haste. So this is what frontline clearing guild gear is like. I always had more basic gear from the floor itself. Dungeon and boss gear is of a different level. Even though the armor is crafted, it's using materials that can only be gained by killing various bosses. Each piece of the armor started to materialize onto my body as I selected them from the inventory listing. The weight was slightly higher than the incredibly heavy and bulky plate gear I was already wearing, but it was much less imposing with its smaller frame. Then finally, I selected the new spear I received, The Crimson Phantasm. The long spear that appeared in my hand was incredibly ornate. It appeared to be crafted out of a massive deep red ruby with blacken oak wrapped around its shaft. The spear tip itself was fully crystalline with two blades protruding out horizontally from where the spear tip meets the shaft.

Activating Skysiege Mode, I propelled myself out of the village, leaping quite the distance into the jungle. As I landed, I bounded once more, covering a lot of lost ground whilst heading toward Chelsea's location. Suddenly, I saw faint glimmering sparkles of light reflecting the midday sun string around me like spider web, "Shit!" I cried out.

While mid-jump, razor wire had fired from one of the islands I was leaping over, encompassing me. The wires suddenly tightened around my body and I was being pulled down toward the ground. My eyes locked down towards where I was being pulled. There were two red players standing side by side in a small clearing of trees. One was glowing brightly as his razor wire skill was still in effect while the other player had a long spear with the butt end firmly planted into the ground. They were planned on impaling me using this tactic. At this rate I was going to die, I had no choice. Doing my best to correct myself mid air despite being wrapped in wire, I turned my body to face them and activated Dive. The vorpal nature of the spear activated and moved right through the wires as it took position. My downward speed increased as if I had thrusters jetting off from my back and the wires pulling me downward were no longer taut. They began to loosen as the main length was starting to fall behind my descent. The razor wire user's eyes bugged out slightly as I came down upon him. My spear landed right in the center of his chest. He instantly shattered into countless polygons.

"New skill unlocked."

"DAMNIT!" I screamed out in frustration, "You damned fools, why are you doing this with people's lives? I didn't want to kill him!"

The spear user was shaking in shock as he watched the polygons of his partner rise and vanish. With a loud angry scream he charged me, thrusting his spear out into a basic Thrust attack. In order to keep my spear from going vorpal, I avoided using the system assist and then deactivated Sky Siege Mode to gain my weight and sturdiness back. Using my own spear to parry and divert his attack, I positioned myself behind him before driving my elbow into the base of his spine below his neck. As he collapsed onto the floor, I placed a Criminal Crystal onto his back and he vanished as he was spent off to the in-game prison.

For a moment I just knelt down to the ground cringing in frustration. I drove my fist into the hard soil angrily. At that moment I heard a faint laughter in the distance. It was a voice I recognized. As I looked up and off into the distance, I saw that sickening Cheshire grind resting on Geshoku's face.

"How does it feel Reis?" He asked, "Does it feel good to take a life with your own hands?"

Clenching my spear tightly, I glared up at him, "How sick do you have to be to get off on this kind of nonsense... are humans really that twisted when they believe there are no consequences?"

"Only the strong survive." Geshoku grinned, "What will you do now that you are a murder?"

I knelt forward, looking down at my new skill, "I'm already a killer right? One more piece of trash won't make much difference."

"Sky Siege Mode charging, ability in que, Horizontal Jump."

As I prepared to launch myself at Geshoku, a look of pure enthrallment came across his face. Pulling his scythe from his back and began to prepare his own skill, "So this is it Reis, after all this time it has come down to this. You know, I was always curious that if you were a girl in real life seeing as you always played female characters named Reis before, but now I see you are just a dumb, perverse American with so much hamburger fat clogging the veins in his brain that he can't even select the right gender. Perhaps you are a homo too? Pretending to be a woman in order to trap unsuspecting men? I bet you even removed your equipment and danc-"

CLANK!

A metal bo staff came down square on the top of his head, knocking him out, "God! You are obnoxious."

Chelsea knelt down and placed a Criminal Crystal onto him, teleporting him off as well.

"Target lost, Horizontal Jump canceled."

A deep sigh escaped from within me, "That... was anticlimactic, and wholly unsatisfying."

Chelsea approached me with a grim expression, "Did you... kill someone? From what he said..."

My eyes clenched shut and I shook my head downward in frustration, "I didn't have a choice, I... I didn't want to..."

Chelsea pressed into me and wrapped her arms around my mid section, "It's because of things like this we have to stop them. We have to stop every single one of them."

One of my arms came around her back while my other braced her head, "What happened to you? Why are you so determined?"

She shuttered lightly in my embrace, "I... I started to play with my older brother. He was always into games ever since I could remember. He played a lot of the old games and I would ... watch him play them. When I could finally play a game like this with him, I decided to try it out. When everything went to hell, I still had him and he continued to smile and protect me. But then he was invited to go out in a late night hunting party. They killed him after taking all of his gear."

"I'm sorry." I whispered to her.

"No... after that I... UH!" Chelsea's eyes widened.

As I backed away from Chelsea, a dagger was protruding from her back. The size and rare make of the dagger gave it enough throwing damage to kill me twice over if it would have struck me I the right spot. Slowly she fell to her knees as I attempted to catch her again. My hands were shaking as I felt her small frame start to go limp. My teeth gritted in a sad rage as I held her tightly. As I looked off into the distance, there was a spiky haired man in leather armor carrying several throwing knives kneeling in a tree.

Chelsea's body start to shake as if she was vibrating, "Chelsea! No, don't you die on me!"

Right as tears started to cloud my vision, an enraged expression appeared on Chelsea's face. She stood straight up and angrily ripped the dagger out of her own back. She turned around and her gazed locked onto the now bewildered PKer.

"_You little son of a bitch!_" She howled as she reared back and flung her over sized metal bo staff.

The staff spiraled beautifully through the air in a vertical motion; the still stunned PKer didn't react fast enough. The tip of the staff bluntly struck him straight between the eyes. From where we were, we could only see him fall from the tree he was situated in. My eyes moved up to the party frame and I noticed her HP only dropped about a fourth of what it was. Dear god, just how much VIT did she stack? That means she has around eight times more HP than I do?

"For goodness sakes, don't scare me like that..." I exasperated, "I thought I lost you..."

Chelsea held up her hand with crooked fingers as she spoke in a mildly insane voice, "_I am going to beat every single one of them into a bloody pulp. If I catch one of them alone I am going to torment and make them reconsiders their pathetic lives..._"

"Chelsea...?" I blinked up with mild hesitation.

"_What! ?_" She barked down at me, and before I had a chance to respond, "_I'm still mad at you, I still love you. Now get up off of your ass because we are going to turn this god forsaken ocean red._"

"We were only suppose to scout the area out, we weren't-" I made the mistake of trying to rationalize with her.

Her only response was this terrifying cock-eyed glare that could only be interpreted as "Say that one more time, I dare you."

"Yes ma'am." I relented.

Wait, did she say that she loved me just then?

Chapter End


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Envoy of Laughing Coffin

_How could we have known this would only serve to pull them together? Who could have known he would make them out to be martyrs? What could we have done differently? We were only trying to do what was right. That which was nothing bunch a loose group without a cause had become something more... something organized... something wholly more terrifying._

A sick knot welled in my stomach as I watched polygons fade from around my fresh spear strike. He was another who refused to give up or slow even after I got his health down to the red. Why can't they understand? Do they still have some delusion that real life death is a lie? Could that be how they are justifying their actions? More footsteps were coming around the corner.

My hair wafted slightly as a greatsword just barely missed the right side of my head. A light green sheen gleamed off of the blade signifying an application of poison. Even a weapon this monstrous was still being used in such a manner. Though the poison was spread thin along the large blade, a single touch could lead to four to five seconds of paralysis, which was plenty enough to be the end of me. The blade plunged into the wall of the tidal cave, crushing some of the decorative coral that lined the circular tunnel like caverns. Taking in a deep breath, I rushed past his thrust then reared back and head butted him. That wasn't something he was expecting. As he staggered backwards, I activated Gale Thrust and moved in on him. He caught his footing and shifted to the side before I could strike him in his mid section. However, the wind force of the blow was still enough to knock him aside. Quickly, coming out of the Gale Thrust, I brought the flat side of my spear-tip around and bluntly struck him in the side of the head. This must have angered him, because he roared out and brought the greatsword in a large upward arc. The tip of the blade came a millimeter from my nose as I lunged backwards away from him. This guy was one of the few PKer's I've seen that didn't completely rely on system assist skills.

"Don't make me kill you." I threateningly pleaded with him, "I've taken enough lives today already."

The large man just grinned toothily at me with confidence that I wouldn't take his life, "Your bluffing, all of you are always bluffing. None of you have the guts to do it."

"Did you not just see..." I began to murmur to myself bewilderedly.

"Do what you have to do!" Chelsea yelled back as she grappled with another one, "He'll just kill more people given the chance!"

Once more, he rushed me while holding up that greatsword above his shoulder with the tip of the blade pointed towards me. As he struck out once more, I brought my spear up, using the side blades on its tip to hook his sword and push it aside. While my spear and his sword were locked, his blade got pushed against the wall, and was drug across one of the glow grubs that were providing light in the tunnels. The light in that section of the cave greatly dimmed. Both my spear and his sword had their tips brought low to the ground as we struggled. His upper body was left open.

"Chelsea!" I called out.

Chelsea did a forward kick, pushing the man she was fighting backwards before turning then striking out with her bo staff. I side stepped out of the way while keeping his sword locked to the floor. With a great lunge, Chelsea planted the end of her staff into his chest, knocking him back a fair distance. Rushing forward, I pulled out my last Criminal Crystal and stuck it to his chest while he was dazed, causing him to vanish.

"I'm out!" I yelled, "That was my last one!'

"I've been out!" Chelsea yelled back as the man she kicked away came rushing back towards her.

Chelsea brought her staff down toward the man's head. He held up his shield up above his head to guard the blow. However, Chelsea slid her right arm forward along the staff's shaft, shifting its weight and reversing its momentum, causing it to spiral around her elbow and forcing the bottom part of her staff to arc upward from below. The bottom of the staff raised upwards, uppercutting him in his chin, knocking him out. It was an impressive maneuver that did not use the system assist. I sometimes wonder if she was in some sort of martial arts before coming to this game. Her attitude does give that strong willed impression on occasion. But...

The two of us stood over his unmoving body, both unsure of ourselves.

"What should be do?" I asked.

"_We can't just start killing people because we ran out of crystals." _Chelsea semi-scolded me.

I held up my arms defensively, "I wasn't suggesting that!"

Chelsea grew quiet and somber for a moment, "How... how many have we killed so far?"

"Seven I think..." I replied after a moment of silence, "If we include that one with the razor wire."

"There is only one thing we can do." Chelsea sighed deeply.

0o0o0o0o0

"Those idiots, they are both idiots... stupid couple." Asuna growled as she sprinted with incredible speed across the upperlands of floor forty two.

"I can't believe they went without me!" She continued to gripe, "I expected this from Reis, but Chelsea? Those two finally get together, and who do I hear it from? Kuradeel of all people! They were late because they were fooling around in bed? And now they rush off to die together! This isn't Romeo and Juliet! That wasn't a romance, it was a tragedy!"

Asuna lunged through the air, darting between the swaying palm trees that lined the beach. In the distance, she could see the entrance cave to the secret area fast approaching. As she dove into the entrance, she pulled her knees close to her chest making herself smaller as she literally spelunked into the cavern. The lights of the glow worms and phosphorescent lichen that grew on the walls flew past her in her a blur as if she were dodging between dim fireworks. As she approached the guild indicator of their location, she started to hear arguing.

"Uwagh~" Chelsea cried out, "He's waking up! Do something!"

"This armor is too damn heavy with my passive weight reduction disabled; I can't even lift a finger!" Reis barked back at her.

"What do I do?" She started to fidget.

"Knock him out again!" Reis seemed impatient.

"But, what if I give him brain damage or a concussion?" Chelsea hesitated, "I've clobbered him in the head like three times now!"

"It's a game!" Reis growled frustratedly, "It's simulating unconsciousness; you are not actually damaging his real life head."

CLANK! Reis let out a deep frustrated sigh.

"It still amazes me how often they switch between who is being rational and who is panicking." Asuna sighed to herself as their conversation led her to believe that they were okay. However, as she came around the corner and spotted them, her jaw hung ajar in reaction to what she saw.

Reis was laying on top of about six red indicator PKer's using his heavy armor as a weight to hold them down. They were all squirming fiercely underneath him, trying to find a way out. One of them in particular looked like he was being crushed. Chelsea, was standing over an unconscious player who had a sword and shield in his hand.

"Just what..." Asuna's eyebrow twitched, "Just what are you two doing?"

"Asuna!" Chelsea's eyes brightened.

"You two..." Asuna clenched her fist, "What the hell were you two thinking? The three of us... yes, that includes me, were suppose to investigate this together. But not only did you go without me, you engaged them! And... what was with that message you sent me? 'Help, bring lots of Criminal Crystals!'"

Chelsea laughed slightly and scratched the back of her head in a way incredibly similar to Reis, "Well..."

"Reis has become such a bad influence on you..." Asuna sighed.

"Me! ?" Reis sounded incredulous, "I told her we should wait! But no, she had to-"

CLANK!

Chelsea brought her staff down into the middle of Reis' back in a punishing manner. One of the men below him who was being crushed, squealed in a high pitch voice for a second as the downward force squeezed him a bit more.

Asuna took a deep breath and let loose an even deeper sigh.

0o0o0o0o0

The silence was deafening as we were knelt forward on our knees in front of Heathcliff's desk. If he would just hurry up and reprimand us it would be better. But no, he was just glaring down at the two of us. Chelsea had a deeply burdened look on her face. Myself? Who knows what kind of face I was showing. My mind was running off in all directions at this point. Asuna stood over at the side of the room leaning against the wall, drinking in the overwhelming silence as well.

Both Chelsea and I jumped as Heathcliff finally spoke, "So..."

His voice was quiet, but at this point, a pin dropping would have sounded like a door slamming.

"How many died?" He asked.

"Seven." I replied simply.

"I see." Heathcliff started to tap his fingers on his desk.

"I..." Chelsea started to speak up, "This is all my-"

"Chelsea." Heathcliff sharply interrupted her, "I expected this from Reis, but you have always been a good girl... even if you do have trouble controlling your temper."

"Haaa?" Once more I let out another incredulous sound, "Why does everyone always assume that-"

Heathcliff brought his finger down sharply onto the table, causing it to resonate and echo throughout the quiet room like a judge's gavel. I rumbled lowly in a low defiant growl as I lowered my head again. As I looked over to Chelsea and our eyes met, she barely stuck out her tongue in a taunting manner. How could she possibly act cheeky at a time like this?

"Both of you are dismissed; for now just await further orders." Heathcliff decreed.

Both Chelsea and I quietly made our way out into the hallway. After taking a few steps we both collapsed down onto a bench outside Heathcliff's office. Chelsea stretched her arms over her head making a slightly cute groaning noise as her pent up frustration escaped her. My eyes softened a bit in reaction to the sound she made. Leaning my head back, I rested it against the wall and my heavy eye lids closed. I was exhausted. I don't think I've ever fought that long and that hard with so much mental stress before. Now that the calm has settled over my shaken nerves, it feels like my feet were ready to just give out from beneath me.

Chelsea's head came down onto my shoulder.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"Mmmhmm..." She sounded like a child fighting sleep.

"Why don't we head back to my room and take a nap?" I suggested.

"Mmm... hmm..." She was already fading.

As her breathing slowed and sleep overcame her, all I could do was gently rest my head atop of hers. It wasn't long before I was right along with her, fast asleep. Isn't it always funny how you can never remember the precise time you fell asleep?

Shortly after we had succumbed to sleep, Asuna and Heathcliff exited from his office. The moment Asuna spotted the two, an amused and equally touched smile came to her face.

Heathcliff sighed helplessly, "They are quite the careless pair aren't they?"

"Should we wake them?" Asuna asked.

"No, let them sleep." Heathcliff shook his head, "They've had a full day."

0oooooooooo0

Time passed quickly over the next few months. It wasn't like when we first entered this overblown game of death. There was a rhythm to each of the events now. Instead of there being an unknown time till a floor's dungeon would be found and cleared, there were ETA's on when an area would be completed. Towns never had time to be properly explored and many maps were usually only mapped out to the dungeon. It had become a full out race to clear the game and get the hell out of this perpetual nightmare. Casualties from the front line were at a minimum now. Very few people were dying in boss fights anymore. Teams of ten, composed from the various clearing guilds, were assembled to preemptively monitor the boss and learned its patterns. We always went in knowing exactly what we were up against. At this time, we have reached the seventy second floor. While the frontlines had become a much more stable atmosphere as of recent, that wasn't to say player casualties were down...

"Sub-commander Asuna!" One of the new recruits came into the office.

Both Asuna and I looked up to the man, a bit shocked by his sudden entrance.

"There were three more murders, the stone in the Town of Beginnings confirmed that they were player kills." The recruit explained.

Asuna clenched her fist slightly as her eyes weakened, "Were there any witnesses or..."

"Nothing." He replied, "I will pass the information along to the Leader."

The recruit promptly dismissed himself and exited the room.

"It's getting worse." I spoke lowly.

Asuna clasped her hands together tightly, "That's fifty two murders in the past month without a shred of evidence."

"I know it's not something you want to hear, but this reeks of organization." I continued, "Someone intelligent corralled all the blood thirsty hooligans."

"Murder rate is up and criminal crystal arrests have been non-existent." Asuna continued to fret over the details, "Would they really form a whole alliance just to kill others?"

"Don't you remember back when we first met?" I walked towards the window, looking out over the town of the fifty fifth floor that the new guild hall was located, "There was a group who swarmed us... even then they were trying to organize."

"I just didn't want to think humans were capable of..." Asuna began.

My hand came down onto Asuna's shoulder, "You'd be surprised what twisted things people can do when driven to the brink of-"

The door swung open widely as Chelsea entered into the room with an overly cutesy voice, "Hey, are you done yet? I'm staaaarving..."

Slowly, I took my hand off Asuna's shoulders and turned to Chelsea, "Yeah, we were just finishing up."

Chelsea's eyes darkened as she spotted my hand.

"Oi." Her voice became gruff, "What's going on here?"

"I was just consoling her." I smiled softly.

Chelsea moved in on me, wrapping her whole upper body around my right arm and began to drag me away from Asuna before turning towards her with a hateful glare, "You can't have him!"

"Hey, Chelsea..." I furrowed my brow.

Asuna smirked slightly, "I can't even borrow him for a little bit?"

"HEY!" I turned to Asuna, "You aren't helping!"

"It will cost two of those herb roasted turkeys that you prepared last week." Chelsea held up two fingers as if making an offer.

"..." I stopped for a second.

Both Asuna and Chelsea busted out into full blown laughter. Chelsea turned and once more started to drag me away. As I stumbled into the halls, being led by Chelsea, I fell forward intentionally, draping my arms over her shoulders from behind.

"Ugawh~" She made a startled noise, "W-What are you doing?"

"Carry me!" I whined like a child.

"Get off me!" Chelsea growled.

"But my girlfriend toyed with my innocent heart and embarrassed me!" I continued to whine.

"_Innocent, my ass!_" Chelsea took a few steps forward, dragging me along behind her, "Stop pouting!"

"You two... always have fun at my expense don't you?" I grumbled lightly.

Chelsea stopped momentarily, "...you have been overly serious ever since these murders began."

My arms tightened around her neck in a hug as I placed my weight back on my feet. Her hands came up and gently rested on my arms in returned affection, "These murders..."

"Hmmm?" Chelsea sounded concerned.

"They... remind me of someone..." I explained hesitantly.

"The murders remind you of a person?" She sounded puzzled.

"The way they are carrying them out." I continued, "It's familiar."

My arms lowered as I pulled her back closer against my chest. Of course these murders were familiar. Their targets, their secrecy... the lack of resistance the targets showed... They were just like the guild from my last game that I played. You never saw the members, and people would just die unexpectedly. They would either overwhelm them with sudden numbers or poison them to disable them. Was there really a chance that he was trapped in this game as well?

"PoH." My eyes bugged out, as realization overcame me.

"PoH? What does that stand for?" Chelsea asked.

It's show time! That phrase... that damned phrase. Back on the snow storm floor, that PKer who used paralytic poison. He said that phrase. That bastard really is here!

"Why didn't I notice it sooner?" I growled out angrily at myself.

"Reis?" Chelsea asked.

Pulling my body away from Chelsea, and moved quickly towards Heathcliff's office. The two guards in front of his office stepped forward as they saw me approaching.

"He is in a meeting with his advisors right now." The left guard explained.

Pushing the guard to the side, I turned the handle to the door and walked right into the middle of the meeting. Several of the well equipped advisors stood up swiftly at my sudden entrance. Heathcliff held a hand up as to calm them.

"What can I do for you, Reis?" Heathcliff asked.

"I know who is orchestrating the murders." I stated bluntly.

The room grew intensely silent. In his usual gesture of contemplation, Heathcliff clasped his hands together in front of his mouth as his eyes narrowed in on me, "Elaborate."

"His name is PoH, or that is the name I knew him by in the last game I played." I began, "In that game, he organized the most ruthless and cold hearted players somehow and turned them into one of the best assassin guilds known to the game."

"And how do you know this man is the culprit?" Heathcliff asked.

"It's show time." I spoke darkly.

A few of the advisors start to murmur frantically among each other. This phrase triggered something among them.

"That was the phrase he would always say before killing someone." I continued, "He thought a catch phrase would let him become well known..."

"I'd like you not to repeat that phrase or information to anyone else for now." Heathcliff lowered his hands.

"What?" I questioned. "Why?"

"We have been tracking an organized guild of PKers as of recently." Heathcliff explained, "I didn't want to tell anyone yet that we were on to them. Surprise would be the best course of action for dealing with a group such as this."

"I understand but..." I started up again.

"There was a survivor." Heathcliff explained, "We brought him in and debriefed him. They left him to die with a very strong poison, but like Chelsea, he had a very high VIT rate and ended up out regening the poison's damage ticks. They chased down another player and he escaped after they moved on, assuming he was dead. One thing he mentioned was that their leader cried out, 'It's show time!' as they launched the assault."

"So..." I clenched my fingers tightly.

"While you are here, why don't you tell us everything you know about this... PoH was it?" Heathcliff sounded more like he was ordering than asking.

0oooooooo0

As I left Heathcliff's office, Chelsea approached me, "Hey! What's going on?"

"Get your gear ready, that meeting I busted up was discussing who was going to attend the next boss fight." I smiled down at her, "We are heading out soon."

As I went to walk past her, she grabbed the base of my shirt.

"Hmm?" I looked back to her.

"I hate that fake smile." Chelsea glared up towards me.

0oooo0

Three hours later, we were gathered at the entrance of the dungeon. The name of the dungeon was The Temple of Seething Shadows. It was a literal labyrinth. Of course, most of the dungeons were mazes, but the amount of winding corridors and off branching paths that intertwined had to be exhausting to explore. It took five weeks to map the dungeon compared the usual two. In most cases the narrow hallways only allowed one or two people to stand side by side, so we had to line up mostly in single file. Even the entrance to the boss room was tight, preventing the use of corridor crystals.

Complaining started to echo among the forty nine of us who were approaching the half way point in the dungeon. The cramped spaces were taking their toll on us. Thankfully, I heard the boss room is wide open. It was definitely hard to move around with so many people struggling to get through. I wasn't one of the people who mapped the dungeon out, so I could only imagine what they went through fighting monsters in this nonsense.

"Aaagh!" Someone cried out from behind.

One of the DDA members suddenly shattered into polygons. Panic ensued as players started to trample over each other. The line formation was broken, and players started to spread off into the side corridors.

"What happened?" Heathcliff called out from the front.

For a brief moment, my tracking lit up as it detected a hidden player. I heard what sounded like a rapid splattering sound behind me. I turned just in time to see the player to my rear explode into a torrent of glass shards. What the hell could have killed him so fast?

"There is someone here! A player!" I yelled out, "They are using an incredibly advanced hiding technique of some kind!"

"Shhh..." A creeky voice whispered, "We can't have you giving away my precious SECRET now can we?"

I turned just in time to see the face of an old hag vanish to my right side peripheral vision. Then from my left I saw a faint reflection of light. I instantly dove off to the right, barely dodging whatever was coming my way. As my eyes finally shifted back from where the assault was coming from, a hunched back elderly woman dressed like the grim reaper was frantically flailing a scythe towards me at a godlike speed that rivaled Asuna's.

Holding up my spear, I was just barely blocking her blows with the main shaft. A few of her slashes struck my arms, but I took very little damage. How was she killing players so effortlessly? I waited for the next blow to come down before bunting my spear upwards, attempting to knock her off balance. Activating Flanking Strike, I swooped under her, grinding my armor against the wall, and struck upward towards her chest. She brought her scythe down in a defensive motion, but my vorpal spear struck straight through and stabbed her. Her HP greatly dropped.

"TRICKY TRICKY!" She began to cackle wildly as she vanished suddenly.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as my tracking pegged her directly behind me. My hp began to chip away lightly as she slashed me a few times in my back. Her damage was pathetically low. Turning around, I blocked what felt like would be her final hit in the combo.

"Bah!" She sneered.

"Reis!" Chelsea screamed out as she spotted the hag hovering above me.

The hag's eyes grew widely as she turned back towards me. Her scythe came down sharply as I blocked it. She lowered her withered hooked nose face down to mine.

"Reis?" She asked, "Reis! REIS REiS ReiS REIS rEIS!"

Was she insane? Was she...

"REIS!" She cried out happily, as she continued to flail her scythe downward towards me, "Is it you? Are you really in this wondrous world?"

Once more she vanished and appeared next to me, her head did not appear to move, but her body was twisting. One of the KoB tanks from the front of the line rushed up behind her. With incredible speed she twisted around bending her spine in a way that would make leave most gymnists in pain, she carved out five slashes in quick succession. The first four did little damage, but as the forth attack ended, the scythe gleamed with a dark purple light. As the scythe cleaved into him the fifth time, his HP bar was crossed out and he instantly died.

"Such interesting little toys." She cackled, "I wonder if they feel the pain of death in the real world as their brains smolder?"

"Hel!" I growled, recognizing her speech mannerisms.

"EH? Eh... Eh eh eh ehha haha... HAHAHAHA!" Hel cackled, "It is you! YOU ARE HERE! You ARE here! YoU aRe HErE!"

"Just as _fucking_ insane as I remember you..." I growled, "I thought you were just some troll, but you are really a crazy old hag."

"And you, you are a boy." Hel sighed in a strange moment of clarity, "So disappointing. With your cleverness and the way you handled so many of our people previously, I really respected you... but now, you are a DIRTY DIRTY BOY full of impure thoughts! You even DECEIVED ME!"

Hel began to strike out furiously baring her yellow partly rotted teeth. Her speed only increased, but there was no glow of a weapon skill. This was all without the system assist. Just what the hell is this old woman?

Chelsea plunged the tip of her bo staff right square into the hunch of Hel's back. She cried out as her back straightened. Then we realized, she wasn't hunch backed at all, she was hunched over. When she stood up straight, she was almost seven foot tall.

Chelsea's eyes widened in realization, "This woman... wait are you...?"

"You little whore!" Hel cried out.

Hel swung her abnormally long leg around, driving her heel into the side of Chelsea's head, propelling her down the hall. Moving in on the opening, I lunged in and struck her body. Her HP dropped once more. Instead of fleeing, she... well the only way I could describe it is as if she coiled around my spear with her long body in response.

"I want to take my time with you." She whispered in my ear before vanishing once more using some unknown skill.

Suddenly, I heard screaming again followed by the sound of shattering glass. She killed another person. Then once more, someone fell. Continuously she was fading in and out of view, assassinating members of the front lines. Then, I caught a glimpse of her. She appeared behind an unsuspecting scimitar user. One, two, three, four, FIFTH hit. The fifth hit kills them.

"Don't let her hit you five times! That weapon seems to instantly kill if she lands a five hit non-skill combo!" I called out once more.

"AhahahahaHAHAHAHAZAHAHAHA!" She continued to cry out in her terrifying cackle as she rampaged through various players, "The coffin comes to claim you! We bring death from the shadows! We are many! We are legion! We are the Laughing Coffin! Know that you cannot sleep safely! Know that you are not alone! In every shadow and dark corner rests a blade to slit your throat!"

"Sky Siege mode charging."

The next time she appeared behind a player, I activated Horizontal Jump and propelled myself towards her, over the heads of the other players who were cramping the hall ways. Coming at her from the other direction was Kirito, running across the top of a few DDA member's helmets. We both landed our blows into her torso at the same time from opposing directions. Kirito's dark sword had just barely missed my head, while my spear very nearly punctured through his stomach.

Her head turned to face me, almost like that of an owl's, "I've messaged my grandson about you, he knows you're here and he patiently awaits to see you."

"Your... grandson? You can't mean..." My eyes grew wide.

She vanished again right before her HP faded into the red. This time she appeared further up towards the front of the line, lunging at Heathcliff.

"Before this old woman's life finally comes to an end, you need to come with me! Embrace the afterlife!" She dove down towards Heathcliff from behind. Slashing him four times, he quickly stepped to the side out of view into a off passage as her final blow came down. All I could see was a strange reaction on Hel's face, followed by her mouthing, "I see." Heathcliff quickly blindsided her with his shield and shoved his sword into her skull. She finally shattered and faded away.

Breathing heavily, I approached Heathcliff, "Are you okay?"

"I just barely blocked that last hit." Heathcliff calmly explained.

"She was... PoH's second in command in the old game, and apparently his real life grandmother." I caught my breath.

"She had the rare scythe Countdown Five. And as you stated before, the fifth hit kills you. She ignored all strength to focus on agility and vitality. " Heathcliff explained, "I heard of the quest to obtain it before, but I didn't think anyone actually finished it."

"What quest?" Chelsea approached.

"It was a PVP quest to kill at least one player a day for a hundred days straight." Heathcliff narrowed his eyes.

"She killed over a hundred people?" Chelsea gasped in horror.

"My god..." I knelt down to the ground, "What drives people to do this?"

"That woman... as tall as she was and her movements... I think her name was Svena in real life." Chelsea mentioned.

"You knew her in real life?" I looked up at her horrified.

"No." Heathcliff mentioned, "Svena was a famous ballerina many years ago with eastern European origins. Her incredible height and limberness was well renowned. There was an attack on the dancers that were performing in a particular venue, and all of them died except for Svena. The killer was never found. Her back was maimed and she could no longer walk. There were rumors that she did the other dancers in herself and got maimed while they were fighting back."

"That rumor... it seems like it could be true..." Chelsea rubbed her chin, "I never did want to believe it."

"I always thought her insanity was an act in the other game... many players did pretend to be nuts, but damn..." I scratched the back of my head.

Chelsea draped herself over me, resting her chin on top of my head, "You can be pretty insane too."

"Me?" I sighed, giving up at this point, "I will always be the scape goat for you, won't I?"

"Are you saying I need a scape goat?" Chelsea growled teasingly, pushing her finger proddingly against my cheek.

Heathcliff grew quiet for a moment before approaching Chelsea.

Chelsea looked up curiously towards him, "What wrong?"

"Despite the similarities..." Heathcliff put a hand down on Chelsea's shoulder, "...just do your best not to become like her when you grow older."

Slowly, Heathcliff moved away from us to check with the others.

"... What is that suppose to mean?" Chelsea's eye twitched.

"Did... Heathcliff just make a joke?" My eyes boggled for a moment before shooting a fearful yet teasing glance towards Chelsea, "...or did he just predict the future?"

"I'm going to dismember you now... very slowly." Chelsea's eyes continued to twitch.

End Chapter


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Deception and Greed

The crowd was growing larger and larger around the two as the time approached. I took this time to find a nice seat on top of a nearby building overlooking the coming event only to hear footsteps coming from behind. Chelsea's chin dropped on top of my head as she draped her arms over me from behind. This had become one of our shared mannerisms.

"You're starting to get better at finding me." I grinned as I glanced up at her.

Chelsea gave a cheeky smile, "And you are becoming more predictable... so what's going on with this crowd?"

"Ah, after Kirito's little display and the unexpected clearing of the last floor, it seems the Leader wanted to duel him for some reason." I replied.

"Is that so..." Chelsea replied simply.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As the fight began between Heathcliff and Kirito, you could already tell they were both at different levels from the rest of us. I doubt even Reis could keep up with just how fast Kirito was moving. A part of me was sure that he would figure out some way of beating him, even if he was at the disadvantage, but that could be my own pride in him showing bias. Reis was watching the fight intently, but there was a certain dissatisfied look on his face.

"Kirito has this." He yawned lazily, stretching his arms over his head for a moment, before wrapping them up around me from below.

The two of us tumbled backwards as he playfully leaned back and toppled us both to the ground.

"Geez!" I said in a mildly frustrated manner while he snickered lightly.

Then a surprised sound escaped Reis's throat, "Here it comes..."

I quickly scooted up and sat down next to him only to see Kirito engage into a barrage of attacks. Just as the final blow was about to come drown straight into the middle of Heathcliff's face, he suddenly dodged with incredibly speed and landed the final blow onto Kirito. It was so quick, my eyes could barely catch it.

"Wow that was something wasn't it?" I turned to Reis.

My nerves seized as my hairs stood on end. That deathly serious look once again calmly rested on his face. It was a face completely void of emotion. His eyes were hawked and the only thing occupying the deepest corners of every part of his mind were focused solely on that which he was perceiving. For some reason, this expression he showed terrified me. While I feel that he could accomplish anything while this expression rests on his face, at the same time I become fearful of what he is capable of. In SAO, you are unable to hide your facial expression or suppress them. If you want to cry, tears will unwilling fall. If you are angry, your face will scowl. The game reads your emotions. Many have become good at combating this system and suppressing their expressions. Reis was a master at this if I have ever seen one. I am sure in the real world, Reis would never show this terrifying face to anyone. This seems to be one face, he is wholly unable to hide.

"...R-Reis?" I touched his shoulder.

Without breaking his gaze or even a blink, his hand rose to touch mine.

"W-what's wrong?" I asked.

"Chelsea, we're leaving the guild." He turned his stone gaze onto me, his pupils dilating from the changing distance of focus.

"Okay." Was the only phrase I was able to say with that piercing stare penetrating straight into my eyes.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hey!" Chelsea's voice called out from behind me, "...HEY! What's going on?"

All my gut feelings about Heathcliff were starting to coalesce. That final strike from Kirito's combo was perfectly predicted and dodged within point zero five seconds. That is completely and utterly inhuman. His iron clad resolution and never fading bravado even when facing death never wavered once. As I thought, he is too perfect. I am sure after Kirito's shock wears off he will suspect something as well, however he was quite in the heat of the moment and he is an emotional fighter... he is also young and may be naïve. I can't rely on that but I need to talk to him all the same.

"Damnit..." I bit my thumb frustratedly.

"I said... HEEEY!" Chelsea studdenly struck the back of my head.

"Explain what is going on!" Chelsea demanded, "Why did you decide to quit the guild without a word and dump all the gear he gave you on his doorstep?"

"You left with me didn't you?" I smiled at her.

She grew infuriated, she could always see through my fake smiles. Suddenly, I had a heel rapidly striking my side.

"We can't trust Heathcliff." I looked her in the eye seriously.

Chelsea's brow furrowed, "I know you have always disliked him and were distrustful of him but..."

0o0o0o0o0

Reis stopped and his shoulders sunk with a regretful expression.

"He reminds me of myself." Reis gritted his teeth as he spoke truthfully.

"Ha?" I tried to wrap my mind around that statement.

"He's always watching, always judging, always sizing up the situation. He takes advantage of any openings or weaknesses whole heartedly while keeping his cards close to his chest." Reis's eyes glowered, "But today... he made a mistake. He accidently dropped his joker on the table."

"I'm not fully following you..." I squinted my eyes.

"You know Chelsea..." He looked up, "I'm not terribly proud of myself in real life."

What was he saying?

"I graduated college you know?" He asked rhetorically, "But my family was poor and I didn't want to go into debt for college. My grades in high school weren't the best either. I didn't get any fancy scholarships. But you know..."

'You know' he repeated with weakness in his voice. He was struggling to be honest with me for the first time even in this situation.

"You know, I made it through college without accruing any debt whatsoever." He looked down, "I even lived in the nice dorms on campus without paying a single dime or working a single day that I was there."

Why was he telling me this?

"You know how?" He asked, looking up at me, "I abused loop holes in the financial aid system to receive grants. I went to campus poker games and counted cards and read their faces. When no one on campus would play with me anymore, I started to going gambling dens. But I pissed off too many people. I had to keep moving. I... I manipulate people. My whole life is nothing but a large act. I don't even know who I am anymore because I spend most of my time hiding my own emotions in order to get the outcome I want in a situation."

"Why are you telling me this?" I suddenly blurted out.

"... Because, I wanted you to know that I'm not a good person." He smiled weakly up at me, "I didn't want you to have any delusions as to who I was. I'm no hero and I am not just in the least."

Inhaling deeply, I let out a melodramatic sigh, "You act like I don't know that you are a completely shady, self serving, undeniably stubborn, and belligerent ass. If I was looking for Mr. Perfect, do you think I would have really put the moves on you?"

"Oi oi, you are making it sound like you settled for me." He suddenly got defensive, causing me to smile as I broke his depressed mood.

"No one is perfect..." I clenched my hands slowly, "I... to be honest..."

"Well, you are a crazier than a pack of cats in a dog pen sometimes, so I guess we are even." He smirked.

"You..." I began towards him balling up my fist.

"But..." He held out his hand, speaking in a serious tone, almost causing me to trip.

"I was working around to a point." Reis looked up at me with a mildly serious glare, "As a shady, deceptive, and overly self serving bastard, I recognize my own kind. And today I saw Heathcliff do something that leads me to believe he is abusing a bug in the system or he..."

Reis paused for a moment with a disgusted look.

"Either way if he is a cheater or something more, we do not want to be there when the _shit hits the fan_, so to speak." He explained.

Taking a deep breath, I gave him a reassure smiling, "Okay then, what's our next move?"

"That's a good question, for now let's get down to a lower, unpopulated floor and figure things out." He grabbed my hand and began to lead me away.

As he took my hand, I felt my chest sink slightly. He came clean with the skeletons that were holding him down, yet I...

0o0o0o0o0

"This is a mistake!" I growled.

"I'm going regardless." Chelsea glared back at me.

"Is this for revenge?" I asked, "For your brother?"

Chelsea turned and grabbed my collar, "What if it is?"

Before we even arrived at the town crystal to travel between floors, Chelsea received a message from Asuna that read: "I'm not sure why the two of you decided to leave, but this is urgent. There was a leak on where the main hideout for the Laughing Coffin guild is located. Before anyone finds out, the five guilds of the front lines have ordered for a strike team to put an end to them once and for all."

"I understand your desire, but..." I started

"Aren't you tired of always running?" Chelsea snarled, "Weren't you beyond this?"

A sickening streak of anger ran right through my chest, "Fine."

Instead of avoiding Heathcliff, we were going straight back into his clutches. Furthermore, we were tackling the Laughing Coffin guild directly. I didn't like it, but I had to adapt.

The hideout was a cleverly chosen location on a lower floor. They had taken residence in a hole in the ground that lead to underground ruins. These ruins were part of a secret challenge dungeon filled with death traps. I made my way through a portion of it before backing out. More people decided to try it out while I was still inside. I didn't want to be there if they inadvertently set a trap off. Very few had cleared it, and the rewards nowadays were mostly considered useless due to smiths producing much better equipment for minimal cost. Someone must have carefully mapped it out.

After arriving, I instantly recognized how bad the situation was. Everyone was loosely hidden around the entrance. It was obvious they would know we were here. We were walking into a death trap. The few members of KoB that were present shot us suspicious looks, except for the concerned look that rested on Asuna's face. Kirito looked like he was struggling. Asuna's hand was resting on his shoulder gently.

"This is bad." I whispered realizing something dire had recently happened to Kirito to mentally throw him off.

"What is?" Chelsea asked.

"Everyone is shaky, Kirito included." I sighed, "If they incite panic, it could be over. Keep a status ailment crystal close at hand, even with your high vit."

Heathcliff was looking at me with inquisitive eyes. He was studying the fact I was wearing much lighter leather armor and using a basic spear that I acquired from Agil. It had solid stats, but no special properties.

"I'm not going to ask why you left or returned my gifts, but I am glad you are here." He offered.

Without even looking in his direction, "I need to walk my own path."

As much as I would like to have just ignored him and not spoken, I have to manage myself carefully.

"Though... do you need to drag Chelsea down with you?" He asked in a calm voice, but his intent on provoking me was clear.

"And how many do you intend on dragging down with you?" I asked him with a sharp glare.

His calm gaze faltered for a moment. Immediately he turned away from me and quietly spoke out to everyone, "We move in now!"

Despite everyone trying to remain quite as possible, we sounded like a herd of elephants trampling into the tiny entrance of the cave. This was a huge mistake. The only reason I was here was to ensure that Chelsea lived. I knew a good portion of the dungeon and where the traps were, but not all of them.

Tat tat tat. The sound of pins sticking into flesh suddenly rang out.

"No!" One of the members of the strike team called out, "No no no!"

Three darts with strong poison all struck his vitals. His HP ticked away before he could even open his inventory to use a status ailment recovery crystal. Light blue shards danced across our vision as first blood was drawn. There was no panic, just heavy breathing ringing in the air. They knew we were here.

As we pushed in further in, a large block rose from the floor, trying to crush the middle of the pack against the ceiling. Those on the block rolled off of it before I could crush anyone. However, the block didn't lower, the front end and back end were separated. Kirito, Asuna, and a few others were at the back, Heathcliff and the rest of us were at the front.

"They should be fine." Heathcliff explained.

Two daggers suddenly zipped in from the darkness of one of the corridors. Heathcliff swiftly held up his shield, deflecting them. He followed up by pushing into the corridor with his shield raised. Two players flanked him from either side as he rushed in. With a great spiraling slash, both of them were cleaved in two. We continued to follow Heathcliff as he took point.

Heathcliff shouted out, "Do not hesitate to kill red players, detain orange players if possible! Do not endanger yourself with pity!"

0ooooo0

We found ourselves playing shadow games with the members of Laughing Coffin, and we were on their turf. They would attack and recede in orderly timing while triggering the dungeon's traps to catch us off guard. Despite my best efforts to stick with Chelsea, we were separated as she charged off after one of the players. Only Heathcliff and I remained within eye shot of each other.

My tracking lit up in a sudden alert as a player descended from above me. Four daggers struck into my back before I had time to react. Paralysis lit up as a status effect. To finish off the job, the player was coming down atop me with an overly large dagger. The hooded player descending was none other than the one I engaged in the snow fields over a year ago.

It was PoH.

I crushed the yellow crystal in my hand, removing the poison, striking my spear upward. PoH gripped the shaft below the head and used it to gain leverage and flip over my back. Turning around to face him, he whipped the edges of his cloak, causing hidden daggers to take flight. Heathcliff moved in front of me and blocked the daggers with his shield.

"We need to be careful." He spoke lowly, "He's incredibly agile."

PoH dove back into one of the many dark halls that lined the large room we found ourselves in. Carefully, I knelt down and began to pull the daggers from my back. My HP was in the yellow them that attack. Before reaching for the last dagger jutted into my back, Heathcliff ripped it out and swiftly flung it into one of the corridors. A pained sound could be heard.

"There is no way you could have possibly..." My eye twitched.

We slowly moved down that corridor. As we approached we heard the sound of the knife being removed followed by scuffling.

"There was still some poison on that dagger; but from the sound he was making, he didn't use a status crystal, but probably a poison suppression skill to slow down its effects. We will probably find him soon." Heathcliff knelt down and picked up the dagger he had just thrown.

Heathcliff began to move forward ahead of me, holding the dagger tightly in his hand. This was a part of the dungeon I knew, and he was walking into a trap. It was a wall crushing rig that was triggered by the floor panels just as you enter the hallway. However, Heathcliff stepped widely over the panel and turned towards me.

"Those panels will set off a trap, be careful." He explained as he continued on.

"You certainly know this dungeon well." I called out to him.

"I cleared it before." He called back.

"Did you now..." I mumbled.

Hesitation overcame me for the first time in a long time as he stepped into the hallway. Should I do this? What if I am wrong?

"Chelsea has made me soft." I sighed under my breath.

"Hmmm?" Heathcliff turned in time to see me step on the panel, and swiftly jump backwards.

His eyes widened in shock as the two walls closed in on him swiftly. In reaction, he jutted his shield off bracing one wall, and his forearm against the other. He was holding the two walls back from crushing him.

"You..." Heathcliff groaned as he struggled with the walls, "Were you with them?"

A deep breath flowed into my lunges as I squatted down, resting my elbows on my knees, "No."

"Then... why?" He asked.

"Curiosity with a touch of healthy paranoia." I explained, "I was really worried at first, but seeing you so impressively holding those walls back relieved that a little bit."

Heathcliff's hand slipped and the walls crushed into him, slamming against his back and chest. His HP plummeted and started to enter the yellow zone.

"Immortal Object"

Heathcliff sneered fiercely.

Releasing the deep breath I initially took, I let out a sigh, "I knew something was up with you from the moment I met you. Your attitude about the game and your desire to rally troops... You did not dislike this world yet you wanted to gather those to clear it so badly. You were almost too perfect."

Immortal object continued to pop up constantly as the walls continued to try and crush him.

"I thought my act was convincing." Heathcliff replied, "What was its fault?"

"You almost had me, but the problem is, you weren't the only one acting, and actors tend to read tells of other actors." I explained, "Your biggest weakness was the fact that you were too perfect. You needed to show a few flaws to be more convincing."

"We all have our weaknesses." Heathcliffed continued, "...and yours is most definitely..."

"Chelsea, I know." I sighed, "When I am with her, I actually feel guilt when I deceive people. It is easier to lie than to be honest sometimes."

"You can't con a con man as easily I suppose." Heathcliff gritted his teeth in a laugh as the walls continued to keep him pinned, "So, why not join the bandits, you seem perfectly suited for that life style with your sociopathic tendencies."

"I may be manipulative but I am not completely heartless." I scratched the back of my head.

"So, what do you intend to do now?" Heathcliff asked.

My eyes narrowed in slightly realization, "You're stalling... I planned on having those walls hold you down till more people saw you but..."

"You thought I couldn't access a GM panel because I couldn't move my hands?" Heathcliff asked.

A lump formed in my throat, I shouldn't have forced his hand. This was a mistake.

"Voice Code Kayaba Akihiko, disengage trap script object ID #07D12X5." Heathcliff called out.

The trap suddenly disengaged and the walls retracted. My mind was ablaze, what could I possibly do? My instinct was to run, but could I run from this?

"It's far too early for my identity to be revealed." Heathcliff stepped towards me.

"So you would kill me, like the near four thousand others?" My palms grew sweaty.

"No, but I would like you to sit in time out until the rest of the world learns who I am." He opened up the GM panel.

With a few quick button presses, my HUD shifted from green to orange. He made me into an orange player, a criminal. Quickly, I jumped away trying to stay away from him, but suddenly my body seized as a permanent paralysis came over me.

"Generate object ID 4871 with variable F95-C." He spoke aloud, generating what looked like a criminal arrest crystal.

"I set this special little crystal up to keep you 'down there' until the 95th floor has been cleared." He explained, "It will let you out then. I plan on revealing myself around that time. You are too valuable a player to kill off."

"Wait!" I reached out as he pressed the crystal to my chest, "You bastard!"

Suddenly, world hazed around me and grew black as I vanished.

...

Heathcliff heaved a large sigh as he stood up and shot his glare down the hallway where PoH was hidden, still partially immobilized from the dagger poison. PoH was frantically typing away at his HUD when he was noticed. With incredibly speed Heathcliff rushed forward and pressed an orange crystal to PoH, causing him to vanish as well.

0oooooooo0

This forced teleportation was different than the usual teleport crystals. The world spun and hazed as I reorientated in my new location. Once my vision cleared, I found I was in a dank prison cell wearing nothing but my casual non-combat clothes. The smell of musty dust hung heavily in the air. Opening my inventory, I saw that I still had everything in my possession, but every single item was grayed out. Yet two new items were in my inventory.

"Day Old Bread (7)"

"Canteen of Murky Water 100% Full"

Was this my weekly ration?

"You, newbie." A deep voice echoed, "Give us your offerings, now."

Looking up, I saw several men standing outside my cell. They pushed the cell door open which appeared to be unlocked. Every single one of them looked rough; and each them had a threatening glare.

"Offerings?" My eyes furrowed.

"Your weekly bread." The large one in the middle demanded, "You are probably still full from the upper world food right? Then you don't need that bread."

Ah, I see. Just like any other penal system...

"What if I said that I don't like sharing?" I asked.

"Then you get punished." He stepped forward.

Pulling my HUD down, I looked at the area indicator: "Floor B1: Forest of Everlasting Night, 'Castle of the Judged' (Safe Zone)  
They were threatening me in a safe zone?

"Sorry, I won't be sharing today." I stood up.

The large man in the middle stepped forward and drove his into my stomach, winding me and knocking me back into the wall. While I didn't really feel pain, it was pretty unpleasant. It seemed rules were a bit more loose here than I thought. While still down, he kicked me in the head, causing me to spiral across the floor.

"Are you ready to make an offering now?" He asked, standing over me.

"Sky Siege Mode: Activation Complete."

Even though we were in a tiny room, I jumped. As I rocketed up towards the ceiling, I grabbed the base of his chin and brought him up above me. Using the force of my jump, I drove his head into the ceiling then activated dive. Pushing him back down head first, I forced his head into the stone floor. Though he took no damage, he was completely unconscious.

In response, one of his underlings charged me, "You arrogant..."

Quickly, I activated Horizontal Jump, propelling myself towards him.

"Sky Siege Mode: Deactivated"

Weight came back to my body while still mid air. I completely blindsided him with my speed as I drove my fist square into his jaw. His body unconsciously fell to the ground. More started to pour in after him. They were slow and low leveled. I blocked a punch from the side before driving the bottom of my foot into one in the front. Two more came and joined fray, I was starting to get overwhelmed.

"Overdive Heel" activated.

My legs began a sweeping motion as the skill activated. My heel constantly was driven into each of the players, knocking them away. It was reaching a point where I really wished I spent more time working on my martial arts skill. The only time I ever used it was to kick enemies away or for a head butt or something. It wasn't over though. Even more of them came. They were lower level than I was, but eventually I would get overwhelmed. So, this is how they even corral higher level players into obeying their rules.

In a flash of light another player appeared... it was PoH. The mob stopped for a second as he appeared. PoH's eye twitched violently as he saw the blood thirsty mob that was centered around myself.

"You certainly are good at making friends." He mumbled.

"You!" I growled.

With seemingly blinding agility, PoH rocketed out of my cell, scrambling awkwardly across the top of the mob. Giving chase, I activated a shoulder tackle martial art skill and collided head first into the crowd, knocking the middle line of them asunder. Pushing through the grasping hands, I began to follow him. As soon as I broke away from the crowd, I started to load Sky Seige mode.

Sprinting around the narrow halls lined with jail cells, I spotted countless players simply resting lifelessly on hard wooden beds with hay. Many of them were clutching their stomachs, completely starved. Was this what awaited those who broke the law here in this world?

"Hey!" A voice called out to me.

For a moment I stopped and turned to see one of the ragged prisoners looking up to me, "You must be new here. This prison castle is the only safe zone on this floor. If you leave, you stop receiving your bread and water too. If you plan on leaving, be careful."

With a simple nod, I continued on in my pursuit.

"Sky Siege Mode: Activated"

My body became light, and each step began to propel me great distances as I rushed forward in chase.

0o0o0o0o0o0

We had just finished cleaning up the rest of the Laughing Coffin members. I personally was still trying to catch my breath at the entrance of the dungeon as we all regrouped. Asuna and Kirito came staggering out of that hole in the ground. Heathcliff wasn't far behind.

"How many did we lose?" Asuna asked.

"Looks like eleven or so..." One of the KoB members answered.

My head swiveled slightly, "Where's Reis?"

Heathcliff's eyes met mine, he lowered his head slightly and shook it back and forth sadly.

"No..." My fingers tensed, "You're lying!"

"I'm sorry." Heathcliff responded.

My twitching fingers came to my face as tears began to stream down, "No... NO..."

Asuna knelt down and wrapped her around my shoulders, "I'm so sorry Chelsea."

0o0o0o0o0

The two of us launched simultaneously out of the Prison-Castle, tangled in a struggle. Outside the castle we could see that we were on a floor below the first. The wide girth of Aincrad loomed over us blocking out all sunlight. It was a floor suspended below Aincrad. We both struck the ground, swinging wild punches. Suddenly, we realized our HP was dropping. His was going down a lot faster than mine. My strength was much higher than his.

"Hold on!" He held his hands up.

"What... you don't have your poison or daggers and now you want me to hold on?" I glared.

"I have good information to share." He grinned, "While I could probably escape you eventually, it would be a pain, and I'd rather just walk away."

"Information?" I blinked blankly.

"Yeah, I give you peace of mind while we spend the rest of our days here, and you let me walk away without an annoying several day long chase through these woods... how about it?" He offered.

"I'll decide after I hear it." I crossed my arms.

"I caught that bastard abusing GM privileges on a record crystal." PoH explained, "Even though it can only be watched once, I sent it to one of my men who was off site with instructions."

"So you plan on exposing him?" I furrowed my brow.

"Yeah, and because you were the highlight of him abusing his GM panel, I made sure he would deliver it to your little girlfriend." PoH grinned.

This time, my eye twitched.

"You... you idiot!" I blurted out.

PoH looked confused, "What?"

"This doesn't give me peace of mind at all... don't you realize what you have done?" I yelled out.

"She'll see what happened to you and viciously try to expose him, right?" He offered, "I thought her overbearing personality would be perfect."

"No... no, you misjudged her, that's not what she is going to do at all!" My shoulders sunk, "No, she will definitely..."

0o0o0o0o0o0

It was too quiet as I entered onto the first floor in the beginning town. This town should be full of... oh who cares. Each step I took down the stairs away from teleportation point felt painful. Each breath that I took in felt like I was inhaling smoke. The sadness had passed, all that left of a dull sense of deadening anger. My brother was taken from me, now Reis.

"I will kill every single one of them." Darkly escaped from my lips.

Opening up my inventory, I summoned every single Criminal Crystal I owned and slung them across the ground as I grinded my teeth. From that action, I spotted the first person I've seen on this floor so far. It was a member of The Army.

"You! There is a fine for littering!" He yelled out, "Now pay up."

"Since when?" I asked him glaring towards him fiercely.

"Since the Harmony Law was enacted by the current leader of The Army." He replied, stepping in front of me.

"Now pay up." He growled.

With a wide swing of my staff, I caught his side and then put my weight into the swing, propelling him across the street, causing him to collide against the third story wall of a nearby building.

"Give me a _fucking_ break." I slid my fingers through my hair.

Continuing through town, I saw a few players cowering off of the streets away from members of the Army. Bullying the weak, they were no better than the orange players. A particular member of the army had a woman backed into the corner.

"Come on baby, just drop your ethical code and I will make sure you will have plenty of food." He sleezed up to her, "It's a good deal, trust me."

This time, with all my strength I brought my staff around, striking the pervert directly in the side of the head from behind. His body flopped like a rag doll as he rapidly spiraled through the air, occasionally bouncing off of the ground.

"This whole world is sick!" I screeched.

My actions were drawing the attention of other members of The Army. Slowly, I was becoming surrounded. Turning towards them, a dark smile came to my face.

"You are under arrest for violating the peace." A member spoke out.

"_Go fuck yourself_!" I screamed loudly before jumping into the middle of them.

0ooooo0

"I get off of my post at eleven." One of the guards spoke to the other.

"Oh yeah?" The other guard replied, "Which restaurant do you want to hit today?"

"How about... Oh!" He grinned sheepishly, "Looks like we got a fresh one."

The other guard turned and saw someone approaching, "It's crazy how those front line players will pay absurd amounts just to see the stone."

"The guilds on the front lines even approve of it because the commander told them he would use the money to provide for the players still here." He laughed, "What a crock."

"A crock huh?" I sighed.

The guards looked down to see a girl with long black hair strewn wildly across her face, she looked up at them with a toothy grin.

"There's a fee to see the stone sweet cheeks." The guard smirked.

"Move." I grunted, "Or don't move! That's fine too!"

I lunged up towards them striking the first one in the gut, causing him to cringe forward. I lifted my staff up over my shoulder while it was still buried in his stomach, tossing him backwards and down the stairs. Rushing the second one I brought the staff directly down on top of his head, flattening him to the ground. Drawing my foot back, I punted off the side of the building.

This was the whole reason I came to the Town of Beginnings; I wanted to see how he died. The stone was massive. It was large enough to fit ten thousand names and causes of death. Even as I stood there I watched blue fire engrave another name onto the stone. My eyes traced along the names back to the events of where we lost those eleven people in the raid on Laughing coffin. Again and again I retraced my eyes over the section, but I couldn't find his name.

Meticulously, I read through the near four thousand names that were engraved. He wasn't there at all.

"He's not here..." I mouthed, "He's not dead!"

I felt something. Turning around swiftly there was a dark cloaked man behind me. His indicator was red. How did he get so close? Before I could react, he threw a record crystal towards me and then leapt backwards and retreated.

Catching the record crystal, I hesitantly started the video feed that appeared before me like a hologram. The images were fuzzy, but I could make out Heathcliff performing some action on a strange looking in game HUD panel. Shortly afterwards, Reis's indicator became orange even though he did nothing to warrant it. Then Heathcliff somehow paralyzed him and then pressed the stone to his chest.

A loud noise echoed through the quiet hallways as my teeth clenched and fingers locked in a claw like stiffness. That overzealous asshole, Heathcliff was the one who took him away from me. It was his fault. He took him from me. It was Heathcliff... I will never see him again because of Heathcliff. I never got his real name, and now he is gone... He isn't dead, but he isn't mine anymore... he mine as well be dead. You know, Reis? You may be a deceptive manipulative bastard, but I'm greedy. My father enabled it probably, but I take what I want. I always get what I want. I am not kind to those who stand in my way. You were mine. You belonged to me. You were my most precious possession. NO ONE else can have you.

"Heathcliff..." I seethed out angrily, gripping my staff.

More members of the Army were standing in the doorway.

"HEATHCLIFF!" I screamed out wildly as I charged into them.

0oooooo0

"Sir!" A member of the KoB approached Heathcliff, as he landed the killing blow onto a monster.

"Hmm?" Heathcliff turned towards him.

"I know you are busy mapping out the 75th floor dungeon, but this is urgent!" The recruit held up a record crystal, "The Army on the First Floor is requesting assistance."

The record crystal began to play. It outlined Chelsea leaping through crowds of The Army and knocking them around like bowling ball pins. Screams of the word "Heathcliff" could be heard echoing from her. Heathcliff's eyes widened in realization.

"So the girl finally went mad after losing her lover." Heathcliff sighed, "Asuna might be able to calm her, but I really don't want to disturb those two while they are on their vacation."

"It seems she blames you for some reason." He explained.

"As the leader of the team, it is only natural that she blames the one who holds the responsibility." Heathcliff calmly elaborated, "How long ago was this?"

"This was about an hour ago." The recruit began, "It may be more if-"

"HEATHCLIFF!" A voice echoed out.

...

I spotted him. The one Reis warned me about but I foolishly didn't listen. Today he dies.

"URRAAH!" I charged forward towards him.

A member of KoB stepped in front of me. I spun my staff around striking his side, driving him into the wall. His HP plummeted but he did not die. My HUD shifted from green to orange as I became a Criminal. Another of his party members rushed towards me as I changed to orange. I drove my staff up his chin, knocking him backwards. The last two shielded members between me and Heathcliff moved in front of him. With a fierce scream I simply swung widely, knocking them both back. As I jumped over them and lunged forth, bring my staff down towards Heathcliff, he moved in and bunted me with his shield with overwhelming power. My chest was exposed and he swiftly pressed and orange crystal against me.

Suddenly I appeared in a jail cell. My staff was gone. All around me were rough looking men.

"Oh, a cutie..." One of the men said as he stood up.

"Things just brightened up quite a bit around here." Another grinned.

"I get to have her first." A large man entered the cell.

Standing up slowly, my rage entering a deadly calm, "You know... they did program genitalia into this game. I was always curious if they could be dismembered like your arms and legs could."

A bizarre look crossed the large man's face as I looked up towards him with a wicked fang like grin, "Shall we find out?"

End Chapter


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: When the World Crumbles

"Auuugh!" Another voice cried out in the night before the sounds of shattering followed.

With incredible caution, I peered below from the bough of the incredibly large tree that I had scaled. There was nothing. My tracking wasn't finding anything worth noting either. All I could do was sit there silently and stifle my breathing. Ever since PoH and I started that little upset in the safe zone, many players poured out in response. But what lurked in the woods was far more dangerous. Many of the blood thirsty killers we put away were patiently waiting for new prey. One of them was near my location, and I still haven't spotted him. It was too quiet. The only thing breaking the silence of the night was the wind and the occasional cry of another person meeting their end.

_...Crunch..._

The faintest sound of a leaf breaking below someone's heel chimed loudly in my adrenaline charged ear drum. Without a single movement wasted, I sprung forth in the opposite direction of the sound. Whoever was killing these people was doing so effortlessly, and I am not equipped to handle someone of that caliber bare handed. I timed the activation of Sky Siege to finish its loading process at the moment I touched down on the ground after descending from the tree. Whoever it was, was already on my heels the moment I made contact with land. I didn't even have time to look back, I sprung up, out, and away, traveling the furthest I possibly could.

Even though I escaped, my mind was swimming. It has been three days since I've last slept and my food rations were running low. I still had no idea where to obtain food in this god forsaken forest.

As I touched down a second time, I began to move swiftly between the densely scattered trees looking for any type of land mark. While running, I noticed I was hearing a second set of footsteps moving in pace with my own. Looking to my left was another player moving at a high paced speed. Sliding sideways, I brought my hands up defensively. The hooded player next to me reacted as well.

"Uguawh~" She was startled.

"You!" I pointed at the whiskered girl accusingly as I recognized her.

"Ah!" She replied in realization.

This girl was one of the information brokers I frequently dealt with back when I was still on the lower floors before joining KoB. She was stingy as hell, but she was damned good at her job.

"Don't stop!" She yelled, "There are probably three or four Hunger Wraiths lurking about!"

"Hunger Wraiths?" I asked.

"Players down here who starve for far too long become mildly insane and aggressive." She explained as we continued to run, "They rarely hesitate to kill if they can."

"You have gotta be kidding me!" I groaned as I looked at the last two pieces of bread in my inventory.

Suddenly, she broke formation and darted off in another direction, "I have somewhere to be, becareful now!"

"Hey, wait!" I yelled out.

"You owe me a large stack of Col for that information if we get out of here!" She yelled out as she vanished into the darkness.

Even if I wanted to know anything about this place other than those wraiths, it probably would have cost me my remaining food to get any answers knowing that little rat. She must be going insane down here seeing as how Col is grayed out just like our equipment. But for now, I needed to get out of this open space. Going back to the Castle wasn't an option. Player hunters waited patiently for those to leave as me and PoH soon found out after our little tussle. Otherwise, all I've seen is sprawling forest with few land marks. I needed sleep soon, my concentration was starting to waver and my judgment was becoming poor.

After drawing the conclusion that I would just keeping running in a single direction till I found something, I arrived at the edge of Aincrad. Using my ability to jump high, I ascended up the side of the incredibly tall walls. Looking below, I could see Aincrad's massive shadow gently moving across the landscape below. Even though it appeared to be night at all times on this floor, in the distance I could see sunlight on the ground below Aincrad in the distance. This was somewhat comforting. For what felt like an hour, I hung on the edge of the world looking into the distance. Even the realm below Aincrad looked beautifully designed. Towns of various shapes and sizes dotted along the landscape complete with roads. There were no NPCs or monsters that could be seen, but that was a lot of work for something that was just suppose to be background fluff. In the very far distance, I could see a massive tree like any you would see in most RPGs. For a moment I wondered if the world below would have been an expansion of some sort if this game wasn't corrupted. Perhaps a view from this location was something that I wasn't meant to see. Either way, perhaps I could use the edge of the world as a safe haven. I doubt many others could get up this wall.

The pain of hunger came over me once more, breaking the peaceful mindset that I had settled into. A deep sigh over came me as I ate the second to last incredibly small piece of bread that I was allotted. Turning my sites back to the forest below, I could see camp fires and small settlements dotted about. It amazed me that I didn't run into a single one. Some of them could be NPC bandit camps while others might be players gathered. Both could be dangerous. But then the smell of hot food invaded my nostrils. Not far from my location was a very dimly lit fire. Someone was concealing it somewhat. They were right up against the wall a distance to the north. Even though I was exhausted, the prospect of food was too much to bear. I could do a smash and grab, take what I needed, then hop back up the wall.

Immune to fall damage lit up as I landed on the ground. Swiftly I moved along the wall approaching the area I spotted from above. Parting through the trees, I saw a cave with light just barely escaping it. Someone had holed themselves up. Moving as quietly as possible I slipped into the cave. The aroma of hot food was overwhelming. Peering around the corner I saw an old man with massive bushy eyebrows sitting over a pot of stew. He had all kinds of supplies lined on shelves across the wall. Looking back again at the old man, I noticed his indicator was red. He was a murder.

"Hey kid." He spoke out, "You aren't as sneaky as you think."

He spotted me that quickly?

"Either do what you are here to do or leave me to eat my meal." He grumbled.

"How do you feel about sharing?" I called out from the other side of the corner.

He remained quiet for a second, "Sharing? Haven't heard that one in a while."

"Seems like you have more than enough." I bartered back at him.

The old man chuckled, "Why don't you get it for yourself? If I feed you now, you will just keep coming back to me. Assuming you aren't looking for an opening to rob me blind."

I'm sorry old man, but I don't have time for this.

Quickly, I darted around the corner and made a rush for the large side of Ox he had hanging. With just a touch, I could add it to my inventory and bail. A moment before my fingers could even graze the Ox, my arm was grabbed, twisted, and contorted then my body followed suit as I spiraled through the air before landing on my back. Though I wasn't winded, my mind reeled in shock. I wasn't quite sure what just happened. I scrambled to my feet and slid backwards.

"You're pretty fast." He commented as he hobbled back over to his stew pot, taking a large chunk of meat out and chomping down into it while shooting me a mischievous glare.

My stomach twisted and growled as I watched him. Once more, I rushed in; this time my focus was the old man. As I brought my fist low and up towards his stomach, his hands gracefully swept low and gently pushed my fist to the side. My weight shifted off balance and I stumbled forward. Without missing a step, he moved in onto me and drove his elbow down into the crown of my head, causing me to collapse down towards the floor. Catching myself, I spiraled around to sweep his legs. He casually jumped over my sweep then struck me with his heel before his feet even touched the ground. My body slid across the floor.

Now I was becoming frustrated. My HP wasn't dropping much; all of his attacks were light fisted and didn't cause much damage. He was simply redirecting my weight. But my last assault was somewhat successful. The man wasn't hovering over his pot, he now standing in front of it, facing me. Standing up, I slowly approached him once more, hunger no longer on my mind. I was curious.

Raising my hands up in a defensive position like a boxer, I approached him knowing full well that I was most likely going to lose this engagement as well. I think the old man realized this and he smiled slightly. Taking a deep breath my mind settled down and I fully focused on this old man. This time I was not going to miss a single thing he did.

I will see it all.

"Oh..." The man grinned, "That's quite the look on your face."

Ignoring his words, I approached him. No reaction at five feet. I took a few more steps. Two feet between us, no reaction. Moving in at one foot of distance, his shoulders sank slightly, fingers unfurled. I backed off before he reacted. Unexpectedly, he moved in on me.

"You're kinda scary ain't ya?" He spoke quietly as he approached.

The old man struck forward towards my chin with his right hand, open palmed, fingers straight. I moved my head to the side, ear was grazed. It was a feint. His left hand inverted, fingers curled to a tiger paw, tight to an open palm, he intends to strike my mid section with the base of his palm. Counter. My left hand comes down and forces away his strike. His right leg suddenly slid between my legs during an opening. In a fluid motion, he swept my feet out from under me. Mid fall, he caught my arm and spiraled me over his back. Before my back struck the ground, he forced his open palm into my stomach, forcing me into the ground even harder.

Sky Siege mode activated.

I propelled myself in a jump, inverting mid air to drive my foot upwards toward his head. He bent his back away, narrowly dodging. As I struck the ceiling I entered into dive mode then came down towards him. With the ever most slightest movement, he shifted a few inches to the left and drove his knee up into my forehead, taking advantage of all the downward force of my dive.

I instantly blacked out. That low leveled old man completely mopped the floor with me.

...

The smell of hot food invaded my nostrils, bringing me back around. Placing my fingers on my forehead, I slowly sat up and realized I was on a bed. The old man was once again calmly hunkered over his pot of stew. His bushy eye brows came up slightly and he turned towards me. His body shook a bit in a silently laughter.

"You were out for almost a whole day, when was the last time you slept?" He asked, scooping a bowl of the stew.

"It's been a few days." I shook my head, trying to clear my vision.

The old man held the bowl of stew towards me as if offering it to me. It's highly unlikely that it's poisoned. If he wanted me dead, he could have finished me when I was asleep.

"You sure?" I asked him curiously.

"Go ahead." He pushed it to my chest, "Been a while since I've seen someone down here focus on improving themselves over trying to do someone else in."

My brows furrowed slightly as clasped the bowl, "Improving myself?"

"You were studying me." The old man scoffed, "You had real fearsome eyes there for a second, the same eyes as an old student as mine."

Slowly, I took the succulent stew into my mouth, savoring the rich flavor, "Student?"

The old man paused for a moment as he took a seat on the other side of the room, "I ran a jujitsu dojo back before I got involved in this whole mess."

"The way you held your hands reminded me of Tai Chi somewhat though." I turned the bowl up, inhaling what was left, "But I've never seen offensive Tai Chi."

The old man chuckled slightly, "In Tai Chi you move slowly, but moving slowly trains the body to move quickly with precision and control... are you interested in martial arts?"

"Not in particularly." I laughed, scratching the back of my head, "That takes too much time and devotion, I'm a lazy person."

"Those who are lazy leave their minds to wander and wandering minds have no focus." The old man maintained his placid grin.

I brought my hand up to my chin snickering lightly. It started with a gang fight that turned into a chase, then I was caught up in a mad dash away from some unknown person that led me to the end of the world only to get beat up by a Mr. Miyagi wanabe.

"What's so humorous?" The old man asked quizzically.

"Ah, sorry, just recapping the ironical situations I have found myself in ever since I ended up down here." I sighed.

"Well, as they say..." The old man looked up towards me, raising one eyebrow dramatically, "A frog in the pond knows not of the ocean."

Is this guy for real?

"...really?" I blanked stared at him.

"What?" He asked with toothy grin, "Did that not suit my image?"

I don't even remember what we were talking about now.

"Great, you're skilled in martial arts and a really bad comedian... anything else I should know?" I shook my head dismissively.

"The wise eagle hides his talons." The old man was struggling to not crack a smile at this point. He was overly amused at himself.

This time, I cracked a smile despite being frustrated. It wasn't his really bad Confucius-like references that amused me, but that childish struggle on his face to maintain composure was endearing.

Attempting to change the subject, "So, where did all this fancy food come from? I didn't see any monsters or ways to get food when I arrived."

"Hmmm." The old man relinquished his struggling expression, "There is a place everyone knows as 'The Junkyard' a short distance from here."

"The Junkyard?" I asked.

"Mmmhmm, it's the place all the items in the game end up when you trash them in your inventory." He replied.

"Oh!" My fist came down to my palm. Thinking about it... how many times did I trash huge inventories of perfectly good food materials when I was out on a hunt to make room for more worthwhile loot?

"A group of thugs run the place and try to monopolize it." He explained.

"So you steal from them?" I asked.

"They let me take what I want." He spoke nonchalantly.

"They don't stop you?" I continued questioning him.

"They got tired of trying." He grinned.

"Of course." I let a laugh escape.

"The superior man is modest in his speech, but superior in his actions." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"You do realize you used a quote about modesty to brag, right?" I gave him a sidelong glance, "You're doing it wrong."

"Anyways." He stood up, "If you are going to survive in this place, I better show you to the junkyard, but I will NOT get food for you. You have to earn it on your own."

"That's fine." I nodded.

"As they say..." He started to get that sheepish expression.

"I swear to god, if the next words that come out of your mouth involve teaching a man to fish, I am going to pike you as soon as I find a spear." I growled.

"Pfft..." The old man finally lost it, "Bwahahahaha..."

0oooooo0

There were no land marks, just trees in the darkness. The old man seemed to be moving instinctively as he traveled light footedly through the forest. While the darkness and shadows that moved beyond my own impaired vision worried me, the glaring red indicator over the old man's head was lingering heavily on my mind.

As if reading my thoughts, "So, what'd ya do to end up down here? You're an orange, so ya didn't kill someone I am assuming."

After a moment of thought I finally replied, "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Were currently having a jaunt through a dark and evil forest that is hanging from the bottom of a giant steel castle." The old man glared back at me, "Try me."

"I was a front line player." I began, "While clearing out a coven of player killers, I accidently stumbled upon Kayaba Akihiko's identity. I was put here in response."

"Oooh?" The old man raised his eyebrows in a slightly suspicious manner, "And who was he?"

"Heathcliff." I stated one word, surely my voice was filled with vile.

The old man watched my face for a few moments before replying, "You say that like I should know his name. Unfortunately, I have been down here since the 15th floor was cleared."

"My god, you've been here for a while." I slightly recoiled before hesitantly speaking up, "... who did you kill?"

The old man's jovial face slowly went grim, he grew quiet for the first time since I've met him, "A few people."

Coming to a stop, "...why? You don't seem like the type to..."

"A man can do a lot of things after watching his grandson be brutally murdered." He grew dark.

"If they killed him, they would be red players... so even if you killed them..." I started trying to rationalize.

"They were using dungeon traps to kill people." His eyes never met mine, "Even if there wasn't any blood on their hands... they were still killing people."

We both grew quiet at that notion. Even this old man holed up in a forest cave has his reasons. Though I probably would have found a safer way of taking my revenge, I can't hold it against him. I would have found a way to kill them as well.

Mild screaming could be heard in the distance. It was like a cry of death, but one of frustration and anguish.

"We are almost there." The old man spoke up, "Sounds like something is going on."

We approached a hill overlooking, well... a junk yard. There were old rusted metal shacks and equipment left in tatters. All it was missing was a beat up tow truck and a bunch of cars. But this was a fantasy realm. Wisp like lights hung over it giving it some semblance of day light. Before I spotted what all the screaming was about, the old man's face caught my eyes. An expression of shock mixed with remorse filled his face.

"Why is she..." He began.

Following his eyes, I looked down and saw a small crowd. I had to blink a few times to clarify just what I was looking at. As things came into view, I slapped my hand over my mouth in an amused horror. Chelsea was amidst the crowd of PK players wielding a very interesting weapon. It was a person, and a person that I knew. Her hands were tightly gripped around his legs right above his ankles and she was swinging him at the others like a mace. Though, I almost didn't recognize him without his trademark Cheshire grin.

"Put me down you crazy bitch!" Geshoku screamed out in a furious rage.

With a loud thud, she used his upper body to knock away one of the junkyard thugs.

"I'm looking for Reis, I know he's down here, if you tell me where he is, I won't kill you!" She yelled.

"That girl never ceases to amaze me." I audibly laughed.

"You know her?" The old man asked.

"Yeah, that's my girlfriend." I sighed helplessly, "And I'm Reis, the one she's looking for."

The old man's eyes narrowed in on me furiously for a moment, "Really? That little cutie? How long you been with her?"

"Little over a year now I think, I known her since the thirty... thirty something'th floor." I explained as the two of us watched her rampage through the junkyard.

"Has she always..." The old man started.

"Had anger management issues?" I asked, "Yeah, she has a little bit of a dark side her, but don't we all?"

The old man's eyes carefully followed her while he continued to speak, "You sure she's the right one for you?"

My shifted down towards him at his awkward questions, "No one is ever going to find 'the right one.' That's a myth. Everyone is going to have flaws and personal issues. It's about finding someone who has flaws and issues you can live with and love them all the same. Then over time, you both become the right person for each other."

A warm yet solemn smile came to the man's face, "That's a good way to put it. But what happens when her flaws go beyond personality?"

"I'll figure out it when the time comes... I guess?" I blinked slowly.

"No! My HP is red!" Geshoku's cry suddenly lashed out.

The two of us watched as she cracked an HP recovery crystal over his head and continued to use him as a weapon.

"She's using his HP bar as a durability indicator..." The old man's eye twitched.

"Whelp!" I stood up, "I better go down there and calm her down before she kills someone."

"You think you can stop her?" He asked.

"I was thinking of having a little fun first." I grinned as I pulled my hood up over my head, "You want to come?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to interrupt your foreplay." The old man grinned cheekily.

"I was hoping you could keep the goons off of us while we danced." I hopped half way down the side of the rocky hill, "But suit yourself!"

"Hey kid!" He hollered down, "How far did ya get with her?"

Shooting a playful glare back up at him, "None of your damned business."

0oooooo0

Moving swiftly up on her from behind, she quickly sensed my presence. Her midsection turned gracefully as she came around and swung Geshoku fiercely in a roundabout motion. I ducked under her wide swing and hooked my arm under her right leg, and twisted around furiously, pulling her legs out from under her. As she fell, I caught the wrist on her arm that still had a hold of Geshoku. Pushing my thumb up the soft veins of her wrist under her palm, I seized the pressure point causing her to lose her grasp. Geshoku began to kick and flail as he finally scrambled away on all four to escape her clutches.

A wide right hook swung towards my jaw. I propelled myself away as best I could, dodging her fist. She used this opportunity to get back onto her feet and enter into a defensive stance. Her teeth gritted and her facial expression changed, revealing everything that she was about to do. With a low rumbling growl she charged me. Using a method similar to that of what the old man used on me, I moved in on her, turning my foot to the side, sliding it across the ground and pushing the foot she currently rested her weight on back, knocking her off balance. I moved my right shoulder into her chest gently and wrapped my arms around her right arm, turning and flipping her over her back using her own momentum against her. I laid her out flat on the ground.

While she was still a bit stunned from the sudden overturn, I moved over top of her, grabbing her wrists, pinning her down with my knees on the ground at either side of her.

"Hey... what are you..." Mild panic entered her voice.

Moving in, I began to gently kiss along her neck.

"You... YOU PERVERT!" She screamed as she prepared to exert her full strength.

Before she could react, I moved my lips up to a certain spot on her jaw line causing her to inhale sharply and her body completely relaxed for a moment as realization overcame her. Then suddenly, I was clocked across the head by her left fist and she reversed our positions, leaving me on my back. Without hesitation she pulled the hood back from my face. As our eyes met, all I could see was an intensely angry yet fully blushed face.

"_You are such an ass_!" She snarled down at me.

"Why did you follow me down here?" I asked her.

"That's... a long story." She lowered her head.

"Excuse us... but I think you two should get a room." A voice called out.

We looked back up realizing all the junkyard thugs, including Geshoku were all intensely watching us. Chelsea's face went completely blood shot red. I could feel her body shaking lightly and her fingers tensed up into claws.

"They all have to die." She spoke quietly, "That was way too embarrassing... they saw us, they all have to die."

One by one the thugs started to disappear back into the depths of the Junkyard, taking Chelsea's murderous murmuring seriously. Geshoku was different however. He just stood there with this intense look of hatred as he spotted me. As my eyes locked onto him, I realized that he was still an orange player. He had never killed anyone.

"Geshoku, just walk away." My gaze became serious, "This isn't worth it."

"Maybe not for you." Geshoku's eyes grew weak as he turned to walk away, "But realize, I know this forest unlike anything else. The moment you dare to shut your eyes to sleep, I will be there. Every night I will stalk you and make you so paranoid you won't be able to have a moment's peace. I will ensure that every waking moment that you remain in this world will be filled with thoughts of me and what I will-"

Light suddenly swept through the forest like the sun breaking dawn over the horizon. Fireworks began to ring out all through the sky, "As of 14:55, November 7th, the game has been cleared. I repeat, the game has been cleared. Please prepare to log out of the game after the next ten minutes. Afterward, the world server will be closed down."

A logout window appeared in my HUD with a grayed out logout button. Next to it was a ten minute timer that began to count down. We would be cleared to log out of the game after 10 minutes. My heart began to beat fast with bewilderment. We were only on the 75th floor, why was the game cleared? What happened? Who the hell cares! We were going to be free!

With a large smile on my face I turned Chelsea, "We are free to... Chelsea?"

Chelsea had her hands clasped to her head and her eyes were wide with terror, "No... not yet. We were still suppose to have time... it's not suppose to be over yet!"

"... what's wrong?" I touched her shoulders, causing her whole body to twitch in reaction.

Tears started to stream down her eyes as she reached up and touched my face, "We were suppose to have more time."

"What are you talking about? What's happened?" I asked confusedly.

She said nothing; she just carefully studied my face, tracing her fingers along every curve.

"This isn't the end!" I said to her, "We can meet in the real world!"

Slowly, she shook her head, "I'm sorry... even if you were the one who likes to lie, I've been the one who's been dishonest all this time."

"Just tell me what's wrong!" I growled.

"I told myself I'd be okay with it, but... I don't think..." Chelsea's shoulder sank.

"Let me know your real name, I will find you and we can work through whatever..." I began

Chelsea simply shriveled up at the idea of it. A look of shame was tracing across her face.

A heavy weight suddenly came to my back. Someone had hopped onto me. A knife was pulled to my throat. A weapon? Down here?

"As much as I would have loved to mentally torture you till the end, it seems I have to speed things up a little bit." Geshoku's voice came from behind me.

Chelsea stood up, tightly clenching her fists.

"Our gear has been unlocked!" I called out to her.

"Make a move towards your inventory and I will slit his throat." Geshoku warned, "I have a skill that lets me expose and take advantage of weaknesses with daggers."

Even with his low level compared to mine, I have no equipment on to bolster my stats either. He could very well kill me.

The ten minute timer suddenly ended and the log out button became available. At the same time the whole world began to shift. Cracks ran up the side of Aincrad above and the whole ceiling began to crumble.

"Log out!" I yelled at Chelsea, "Go!"

"But..." Chelsea's eyes wavered.

"GO DAMNIT!" I yelled, "I will be okay!"

A large piece of Aincrad shook loose and fell from above. It was falling straight down towards Chelsea.

"LOG OUT!" I screamed desperately.

Chelsea's eyes grew wide and she sadly gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes and pressed the button just before the chunk of landscape fell on her. A deep sigh of relief escaped from with my chest.

"Hurry up and finish it." I sneered.

"Gladly." Geshoku had hesitation in his voice.

The moment his breathing changed and he moved to cut my throat, I swiftly jutted my hand up between my neck and his dagger. I drove my elbow back into his stomach then turned and kicked his chest, forcing him back. Rapidly, I dropped my inventory menu and equipped my spear. He was already moving towards me, the spear was all I had time to equip.

I lowered my spear tip and aimed it towards him, "You know this is pointless now..."

Gehoku started to snicker before taking a deep breath, "BROTHER!"

"Brother?" I blinked.

My detection lit up, showing someone behind me. By the time I turned and dodged, the second person clipped the spear out of my hand with a disarming skill. Staggering back, I looked up to see PoH wielding a dagger in his hand as well.

"Brothers?" My eyes boggled.

"Yes, my filthy brother." Geshoku sneered.

Both PoH and Geshoku, without a word, rushed towards me. Geshoku leapt and came from above. I grabbed the wrist of his arm that was holding onto the dagger and slammed him onto the ground next to me. PoH moved in low and struck up towards my stomach with his dagger. At the same time I came down with my fist, aimed directly at him, activating a martial arts punch skill. His wasn't a skill, and even if he had poison on the dagger, I would survive his initial blow... hopefully. Right before we made contact a voice called out over the world.

"Forcing Logout"

With all my strength I struck out towards him only to realize that I was being restrained by several people. As I came to my senses, a dull pain flowed through my body as gravity heavily weighed down on my shoulders. The person who was wrapped around my arm began to laugh heartily.

"Fighting to survive till the very end are we?" The deep voice of a middle age man chuckled.

Looking around there were three nurses standing around my bed and a brusque doctor who had a tight grip on my arm. As my body relaxed he slowly let gand I came down to a sitting position in the bed. Hospital equipment around my bed was thrown about haphazardly. A cool sensation ran down my now withered arm. Blood was flowing gently from where the IV in my arm was ripped out.

"Get someone fluent in English in here." The doctor told the nurse.

"That..." I struggled to speak with my dry throat, "... won't be necessary."

The doctor's eye brow raised curiously.

0ooooo0

Slowly I woke up. I've been asleep for so long in that game that I am surprised how capable I am of normal sleep. It feels like all day I've been slipping in an out of consciousness. The doctor told me that my parents visited a few times during the first year, but they stopped coming. It was too dangerous to fly me to the states. My rehab would begin first thing tomorrow morning.

It was night now and I was fully awake. However, I noticed a light on in my room shining on the other side of the curtains quartering off my roommate. He was someone I've shared a room with for the past two years. It left me a bit curious.

"Excuse me?" I gently called out.

"Oh hmmm?" A feeble voice called out.

Slowly my roommate drew the curtains by pressing a button and my eyes grew wide.

"Old man!" I spoke excitedly.

"Oh, it's you." He huffed, "You certainly were causing a ruckus earlier. They got worried when you didn't wake up right away with the rest of us."

"Well, it's good you made it out." I offered a smile.

"You as well, what of that girl you were with?" He asked curiously.

"Ah..." I scratched my head painfully remembering those final events, "She got out... but."

"Hmm?" He asked.

"I guess she didn't want to meet up in the real world... she panicked a bit when she heard the game was cleared." My eyes grew weak as my shoulders sagged.

"I see." He remained silent for a bit afterward, "Good luck, if it was meant to happen I am sure it will work out."

"Yeah... I hope so." I laid back down onto my bed.

"The name's Ichirou by the way." He called out, "Aomori Ichirou."

"Aiden Holloway" I replied.

"That's a terrible name." He scoffed.

"It's nice to meet you too." I grumbled.

0oooo0

The next morning I woke up to the nurses cleaning the room. I sat up and turned toward the bed where Ichirou was, and saw that there was no one there.

"Excuse me, what happened to Ichirou-san?" I asked, "Did he already start his rehab?"

"Um." The nurse looked back at me curiously, "Actually, he was only here due to a request in his medical file. He was old friends with the doctor here. Now that he is awake and in stable condition, his family requested that he was moved closer to their home in a better equipped facility."

"So he's gone?" I sighed slightly disappointed.

"Yeah, but he did leave a message for you." The nurse turned towards the desk and pulled out a folded up piece of paper.

Carefully, I unfolded the paper and my breathing stopped.

"Chelsea – Aomori Kotone, Blue Forest Private Hospital Room 701

"Good luck."

*A caricature of a bushy browed old man was drawn at the bottom as a signature.*

End Chapter


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Daddy's Little Girl

Each time I sat up to perform a crunch, pain echoed throughout my body. It's already been a month and a half; my rehabilitation is going well, but according to the hospital, it isn't enough. I'm scheduled to leave and go back to the states in five days and if I can't pass the minimum release terms early, I won't have time to find Chelsea. Though I suspect that agent from the SAO Rescue Force is the reason I have been confined to this hospital. Even though I told him everything that I know, he acts like I am hiding something.

Sprawling out on the floor after completing my 100th crunch, I let out a begrudging moan, "I swear I am in better shape than I was before my coma, when is this going to end?"

"Your muscle mass is still low!" The rehabilitation nurse stubbornly put her hands on her hips, "Due to your height and bone structure..."

"You're killing me!" I groaned flopping backwards, laying flat on the ground. I looked up to see someone looming above me from behind, "Ugh..."

Speak of the devil.

"Hello there Reis." Kikuoka smiled down at me in a fake manner that I am all too familiar with.

A while later we sat down at a table together in the cafeteria of the hospital. He was taking his time especially fixing the cappuccino he had purchased. He was quietly humming to himself as he stirred his cup with a tea spoon. He was obvious getting back at me for the thirty minute shower I just took after my rehab session.

My hand came down firmly on the table, causing his cappuccino to slosh, "When are you going to let me out of this sterile cage?"

"Why do you want to leave so badly?" He casually asked while wiping up the few droplets of his spilt drink off of the table.

"There is someone I want to meet before I go back to the states." I responded firmly.

He looked up at me after taking a long sip of his cappuccino, "Why do you wish to meet this person?"

"Because, I was close to that person while in SAO." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Is that the truth?" He asked.

A calm serious gaze came to my face, "Why don't we stop dancing around the subject and get to the point. What do you want from me?"

Kikuoka slowly sat down his drink and pulled a file from a folder and opened it up, "When asked about Reis's personality, he was described as manipulative, secretive, coldly efficient, and high skilled."

Who the hell gave him intel on me? Who knew me that well? Chelsea wouldn't...

"I was many things to many different people." I responded, "Who was this person?"

"There is no reason to know his name." He explained, "But I trust this source."

A smile came to my face and that reaction seemed to somewhat unnerve Kikuoka for a moment. There is no reason to know HIS name. It wasn't Chelsea. The only men I knew personally were Agil, who I was only ever friendly with, Heathcliff, who I am sure would not be considered a trusted source if he was still alive, and... Kirito... maybe? I did have a lot of interactions with him but never on a personal level. But we did kill quite a few bosses together after I joined the front lines and he was there when we assaulted Laughin Coff-... ah... that's why.

"I see now. While I am sure your source may be trusted, you really should get your information on me from someone who knew me better. Unfortunately, only two people really knew me in any great detail. Those two being the person I wish to meet and Kayaba Akihiko."I calmly brought my glass of black tea up to my lips.

"So you knew Heathcliff's identity?" He asked, "The only ones who were supposed to know were in the boss room of the 75th floor."

"So that's when they figured out who he was?" I looked up, "I found out a bit sooner, which is why he altered my player file and made me into an orange player... is that why you have held me under lock and key? Because I was an orange player?"

Kikuoka sat down his drink and brought his hands together, his face growing deathly serious, "I'll put your assumptions about my reasoning aside and I will get to the point as you requested... how many players did you kill while trapped in SAO?"

Carefully, I sat my glass down and remained quiet for a moment before looking up at him, "Twenty Seven."

Kikuoka's eyes grew sharp, "That's more than most of the red players that came from the game."

"Every single player that I killed was already a murderer and I only killed to protect my life or the life of the one that I loved." I replied coldly, "It was not something that I enjoyed doing or am proud of. Everything I did was done out of necessity of survival."

Kikuoka remained quiet.

"And tell Kirito next time you see him that he had better have a damn good reason for selling me out." I narrowed my eyes, "Because I could have sold him out on his dual blades skill months before it was revealed and made a fortune off of the information brokers."

"Why didn't you?" He asked.

"Because he was friends with someone I was indebted to in game." I clasped my hands together, "While I am definitely all of those things that Kirito described me as, it was tools to survive in the world. I am not the heartless killer as you and perhaps Kirito seem to have me pegged. Why don't you waste your time on members of Laughing Coffin? Better yet, why don't you let me point them out for you in photo's of the players who survived? Would that get you off my ass?"

"I think we are done for the day." Kikuoka stood up.

When I went back to my room that evening, I was informed by the nurses that I was free to leave the hospital at my discretion as long as I returned for my scheduled rehabilitation.

0oooooo0

Looking down at the note that Ichirou left me, I bit my bottom lip somewhat nervously. The hospital building in front of me was the only one in Japan that had the English named "Blue Forest Private Hospital." Folding the piece of paper neatly, I slid it back down into my pocket before walking into the front doors.

I immediately felt out of place. For a hospital, it was far too posh. Awkward glances were shot as me as I walked into the reception area. It must have been rare to see a tall foreigner stroll in unannounced to their private medical facility.

"_Hel-lo, how may I help you_?" The lady behind the desk asked in very not-fluent English.

As casually as possible I replied in Japanese, "I'm looking for Aomori Kotone in room 701."

An incredibly suspicious look crossed her face, "May I have your name?"

"Aiden Holloway." I replied.

After looking through her lists for a moment her eyebrows raised, "Well, you are on the list of registered visitors, are you a relative of hers from Australia?"

"Something like that." I smiled.

With a press of a button, an elevator to her right unlocked and opened up, "This will take you to the correct floor, room 701 will be on your right."

After thanking her, I moved into the Elevator. A slight tinge of nervousness trickled through me as I realized there were absolutely no buttons in the interior of this elevator. My instincts were going crazy over this. Something wasn't right with this hospital.

The doors suddenly opened after a near minute long climb to what seemed to be the top floor. Well kept plants rested in vases along the hall that opened up in front of me. I took cautious steps out onto the plush, immaculately maintained carpet. Looking down the hall, I saw an open door next to the room that had "701: Aomori Kotone" inscribed onto the visitor's plaque.

With a deep breath I stepped into the doorway. Sitting on the bed was a girl with raven black hair, staring away from me to her left, out of the sunny window. Midday light was coming down in strong beams around her, giving her dark hair a brilliant sheen. After all this time I finally get to meet her. Though I spent nearly every waking and sleeping hour for the past year with her before this long month and a half we have been separated, I felt like I was approaching her for the first time.

As I shifted my weight slightly, her head came up in reaction, she faced forward, and began to intensely stare towards the end of her bed, "Who's there?"

"Um..." I started to try to speak.

Her head cocked to the side for a moment as she listened, but not looking in my direction, her dark eyes were blankly focusing the base of the bed. Though her eyes were such a clear blue in game; that wasn't the case in real life. Even though she has foreign blood within her, it still wouldn't be enough to overturn that dominate Japanese trait. I suppose even the game has errors.

"It's me." I spoke up hesitantly.

A horrified look came to her face as she collapsed onto her bed and pulled the covers over her head, "How did you... go away!"

Slowly, I took a few steps into the room, "I didn't want us to part ways like that... if I did something that scared you or..."

"Just go!" She whimpered.

I moved in next to the bed, "Talk with me, we were too close for us to..."

"I said leave!" She sounded like she was sobbing at this point.

Gently, I pulled back the covers from over her head. She made a slightly helpless sound as she realized what I had done. Scooping my hands under her, I lifted her up and brought her now frail and fragile feeling body up to my own. It was nothing like the firm athletic body of the girl I spent so many nights with in that virtual world.

"Why can't you just leave?" She pressed her face to my chest, clinging to me.

"Because..." I pulled her back from my chest to look her in the face, "I could never just let you suffer on your o-..."

Her eyes were shifting back and forth, but never looking directly towards me, "Chelsea?"

When her eyes did happen to look in my direction, it was as if she was looking through me. Carefully, I reached up and waved my hand in front of her face and got no reaction. Then I gently touched my index finger to the tip of her nose and she jumped with mild surprise.

"Chelsea..." My heart sank, "Are you..."

"YES! I'm blind! Are you happy now?" She began to cry and struggle away from me.

My mind reeled for a moment in confusion before I started to speak, "Did the Nerve Gear do this... or?"

"I've been blind since I was six!" She sobbed, "It was a disease..."

I see. Her eyes were damaged, but that wouldn't change the fact the Nerve Gear sent signals directly to her brain.

"Now that you know, you can leave!" She flailed, "Why couldn't you just remember me how I was?"

"But... why does that matter?" I asked, "Why is the fact that you are blind such a..."

"I'm useless!" She gripped her sheets, "You have so much potential and I would just hold you back! I would only be a problem!"

"Who the hell are you to tell me what would and would not be a problem for me?" I growled at her, "Isn't it up to me if you are a problem or not?"

Fighting against her struggle, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close again, "I love you, you know that. The Chelsea that I know wouldn't let something so insignificant affect what she wants."

"But..." She grew angry, "I'm not the confident Chelsea that you knew! I'm Aomori Kotone, someone who is completely helpless and can't do anything without her father's assistance! When I joined my brother in SAO, even though I was trapped, I was happy. I didn't want the game to end. But now, everything is dark again, it's like I lost my sight all over once more... I knew you would stubbornly accept me anyway, but I don't want you to shoulder my burdens!"

"For the last time, I'm the one who will decide-" I began.

"You... don't understand!" She interrupted me, reaching up and touching my face, tracing her fingers along my features, "You'll stay with me and humor me, but eventually you'll..."

This time I interrupted her by moving in and placing my lips onto hers, her blank eyes grew wide for a moment before closing, causing a tear to fall. There has to be a reason she is so hung up over this.

"What if I don't?" I whispered, "Give us a chance."

"I don't want it to happen again..." She murmured softly.

0o0o0o0o0o0

_A little over two years ago..._

Swiftly, I dug around in the nightstand drawer next to the bed in the first floor guest room until I found the palm sized device towards the back. If father knew I had purchased one, he probably would have already taken it away from me, saying something about how all my needs will be taken care of without the help of such nonsense. Squeezing it tightly in my hand I took a deep breath. It took a bit of time while quietly fumbling with the window before the latch finally popped open. Carefully as possible, I slid the window open and tumbled out of it, falling into a bush. Even though I made a lot of noise, I don't think anyone heard me. I remained completely silent and held a hand to my ear. The closest movement I could hear was the outside door to the kitchen area being opened by one of the cooks, no one else was near.

The back gate out of the service area of the yard creaked loudly as it opened, but I slipped out unnoticed. Gently, I pressed the button on the hand held device I had. Two small earpieces slid out of its side which I then placed in my ears.

"Mari's Café." I whispered quietly into the device.

"Mari's Café, five blocks west, charting course." The ear pieces lit up with a clear female voice.

"Turn 45 degrees to your left and proceed forward 78 feet." It continued.

I extended my collapsible cane and lowered it in front of me as I set off. I haven't heard any other people yet, I must not be completely out of the complex. As I approached 78 feet, the device warned me that I was approaching a check point and that I need to turn to my right and proceed forward 43 feet until I reached an intersection. The sound of a car suddenly blazing me by caused me to jump slightly. I placed my hand on my chest and let out a deep sigh.

After following the directions of the voice for what felt like an eternity, I began to hear many footsteps and people widely going around the area I was in, giving me space. I somewhat swerved to the left and moved near the edge of the side walk and the device vibrated in my hand to warn me I was close to the edge. Just when I thought my nerves couldn't take it anymore, the device chimed, "You have arrived at your destination."

One of the waitresses at the café approached me and offered to help me. Graciously, I accepted and she helped me find a seat and then I ordered a coffee. My shot nerves from my brave little trip were replaced with shaking hands of anxiousness. Today was the day. Over the past year I have been chatting with a boy over the internet using a text to voice program. We've had the best time chatting and he has always had this hint of charm to him. Today, we are going to meet in real life for the first time. But, I've never told him that I was...

"Kotone-chan?" A male voice spoke up.

"Ah.." I froze, "Hisao-kun?"

He was quiet for a moment. I couldn't tell what he was doing. I gripped my hands tightly to my knees and forced a smile. Then I heard the metal chair across the table screech against the concrete as he pulled it back and sat down.

"Kotone-chan... are you blind?" He asked with mild hesitation in his voice.

"Yeah... I'm sorry for not telling you." My voice grew weak.

"Wow, that must be hard." He sounded unaffected.

"It... can be hard at times." I replied nervously.

Then I heard incredibly soft tapping of cell phone keys. It was under the table and he was intestinally trying to keep it quiet. But I easily discerned the sounds even amongst the busy crowd. Was he texting?

"I really wanted to tell you but..." I started to speak, but his phone rang.

He swiftly answered phone, "Hey Minoru! I told you not to bother me for... mmhmm, yeah... wow that's bad man! ... Oh man... I will be there as soon as I can!"

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"I'm really sorry Kotone-chan... but my friend is in some real trouble! He left his little sister locked in the house alone and if his mom comes home and sees him locked out without his little sister, she will beat him senseless! I will contact you again, okay?"

"...Ah... okay..." I nodded.

The chair once more screeched across the concrete ground and I heard his footsteps strike the pavement hard as he ran off. I finally got to meet him and he had to leave. I sighed heavily. Was it really that important? Why is it his responsibility to get into his friend's house? Did he just run away? I shouldn't have lied to him...

After paying for my coffee I stood up and held the device in my hand. I pressed the button and it asked for a destination. I froze. I... I don't know the address to my own house. How could I be so stupid? What... am I going to do now? It took everything in me to not panic as I slowly wandered down the streets. As I passed by buildings, the device informed me what each one was. But nothing was familiar to what I originally passed. I went the wrong way. There is no way I could call father, he would never let me out of my room again if he knew what I did.

As I approached a corner, I heard a familiar voice. It was Hisao-kun! He was around the corner talking with someone.

"Man, Minoru, you really saved me back there..." Hisao sighed.

Minoru chuckled, "What was wrong with her?"

"She was as cute as could be but she was blind man!" Hisao sighed, "That took a lot of courage for me to go you know..."

"There could be worse things." Minoru replied, "Was it really worth abandoning her like that?"

"I want someone normal for a first girlfriend." Hisao explained, "What's the point of taking her to a movie if she is just going to ask what's going on every few minutes or... jeez, she would just be a pain to take care of in general."

"If you say so." Minoru shrugged, "But still, I think you passed up a good chance."

"To hell with that." Hisao laughed, "Let's go get some fried chicken."

"It's not Christmas yet." Minoru glared at him.

"I'll pay, you helped me out." Hisao put his arm around Minoru, "But ahhh... Damnit, I'm going to have to change my name on the chat site."

The two walked off in the opposite direction.

He ditched me. After all the countless hours we spoke, laughed, told stories and had romantic conversations... he ditched me that easily. He didn't even try. He just stood up and ran away. Did all that time mean nothing?

"I..." Tears began to fall, "W-what can I do?"

He's right. It took a lot of planning and secretiveness just to sneak out of my own house. How could I ever have a normal relationship with anyone? I am absolutely useless.

"Useless..." I murmured as tears continued to stream down my face. I fell down to my knees as an intense wave of helplessness came over me.

"What's wrong with her?" I heard someone whisper.

Another voice spoke back, "Just don't look at her."

I grasped my head as I began to feel completely overwhelmed. After a few moments I finally pulled my cell phone from my pocket and hit Star then One.

The phone was instantly picked up, "Yes dear?"

"Daddy..." I was still crying, "I need your help."

0o0o0o0o0

"A normal relationship?" I smiled, "When has our relationship EVER been normal? Better yet, why does it need to be normal?"

"I just..." Kotone almost looked defeated.

I casually thumped her in the head one swift time for good measure, "And why are you judging me because of what some asshole did to you two years ago? You know better than that!"

"But I..." She began to tear up again.

As I wrapped my arms around her, she finally wrapped hers around me as well as she continued to make small pouting sounds into my chest. My shirt was starting to get wet from her tears. Once she pulled away, her eyes grew wide. A string of snot was stretched from her nose to my shirt.

"OH... oh my god... I..." A familiar embarrassed look finally broke through her melancholy.

"Pfft..." I started to laughed.

"Don't laugh at me!" She flailed slightly, before falling forward.

Catching her, I gently kissed the top of her head, "Such a dishonest girl."

"You are NOT making me out to be a tsundere!" She growled.

I laughed all over again, "Yeah yeah, you are more like a yande-"

"Who the hell are you?" A deep voice boomed from behind me.

Turning around, three men were in the doorway. One was a tall middle aged man with a worn looking face. A long scar came down from above his right brow across his eye and down to his cheek. A stern clean shaven mustache rested on his upper lip. To each side of him were large men in black suits and sunglasses.

"Daddy?" Kotone called out.

"Get your hands off of my daughter!" He snarled.

Slowly, I pulled my arms away from Kotone and turned towards him respectfully, "I apologize about this, my name is Aiden Holloway and-"

"How did you get past all of my security?" He demanded.

"I... just came up the elevator and..." My eyes narrowed slightly in confusion.

"Who are you working with?" He asked, "You don't sound Australian..."

"No, I'm from America and-" I tried to remain calm.

"Daddy no! He's not-" Kotone spoke up.

"Quiet Kotone!" He growled towards her and for the first time ever, I watched as Chelsea shriveled at the sound of someone else's voice. Something about her being intimidated rubbed me the wrong way. This girl I knew was stronger than anybody. No matter what happened she charged in with a fury unlike anything I've ever seen. To watch her cower angered me in unspeakable ways.

"Look here!" I grew stern, "How can you talk to your daughter like that?"

"I'll talk to her however damn well I please!" He took a few steps forward.

"Daddy! No, we knew each other in SAO, he's someone very special to me and-" She tried to speak up.

"He was deceiving you and trying to get close to you in order to get to me, just be quiet and let me handle this!" He barked at her.

"Get close to you?" I blinked, "Why the hell would I..."

"Are you going to play dumb after walking into one of my hospitals and then honestly say you have no idea who I am?" He grabbed the collar of my shirt.

His hospital? "Ao" Blue "Mori" Forest... Blue Forest in english... I... How did I not put two and two together?

"Listen!" I said, grabbing his collar in return, "I was trapped in SAO very shortly after coming to Japan, I'm just an ignorant American, I don't know who you are and I don't care! I've been in love with your daughter for almost two years now, and she is the only reason I am here!"

"Ha?" He made a sarcastic laugh, "Even if what you say is true, do you really think I will let some American runt have my daughter?"

"Your daughter is a grown woman and can make her own decisions." Both of our grips were tightening, "Why don't we let her decide?"

"My daughter isn't capable of making such decisions on her own!" He growled back.

Now I was mad. With a forceful push, I knocked him away from me, "You... you don't even know your own daughter do you! ?"

"I've tenderly raised her from birth!" He growled, "How dare some outsider accuse me of... GET RID OF HIM!"

The other two men came towards me. My instincts were sharply telling me to take them out, but this wasn't a game, and they were in much better shape than I was. Even so, starting a brawl in a private hospital would not end well for me. The shorter bald one gripped my arm and brought it behind my back, straining the bone.

"Agh..." I made a pained sound.

"Daddy, please don't hurt him!" Kotone called out.

The other man followed close behind as the bald one drug me out of the room. Right as my view of Kotone was about to be broken, that familiar twisted look of insanity crossed her face. A warm smile came to my face as I yelled out, "Let 'em have it, Chelsea!"

I knew she would be ok. But as I yelled out, the bald man balled up his fist and struck my face. It hurt... a lot. There was no real world pain in SAO. For a moment my furor died down as I realized pain was very real once more.

The elevator opened in front of me.

"Kotone?" I heard her father question her with a hesitance in his voice.

"Now daddy..." A dark voice was coming from her.

The bald man paused for a moment and looked back towards the room. In that instant, I slipped out of his grasp, turn swiftly and kneed him in the family jewels. As he knelt over, I drove my elbow into the side of his neck, causing him to collapse onto the floor. I ducked into the elevator just before it closed, pulled my eye lid down and sticking my tongue out at the other man.

0o0o0o0o0

A bell chimed as I opened the door to the small cafe. As I walked in, I noticed how the place looked somewhat gloomy.

"AH!" A large voice called out, "Reis, is that you?"

"Hey Agil." I nodded, "You really did have a little place like this didn't you?"

"Well it's nothing much but... what happened to your face?" He asked.

"Chelsea's father..." I rubbed my cheek before looking up and spotting another person sitting at the bar, "AH! You!"

Kirito looked up and gave a slightly hesitant laugh, "Hi."

Stomping over to him I growled, "You sold me out! I was trapping in that damn hospital under suspicion of being a criminal because of you!"

"W-wha?" Kirito blinked confusedly, "I only gave him information on players I knew that engaged in pvp!"

"You told him I was a sadistic bastard and he kept me locked up!" I snarled.

"Hold on now Reis..." Agil leaned forward over the bar, "I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation."

"I just told him how you were in battle when we fought, I didn't say anything like that about your personality!" He held his hands up, "If I got you in trouble, I'm sorry... but I just had to find her, so I told him whatever he wanted to know!"

"Eh?" I blinked, "Find her?"

0oooooo0

"Wow..." I looked down sadly, "You and Asuna huh? And she is still in a coma..."

Kirito nodded, "Just like three hundred others..."

"I've never really gotten along with you, but Asuna was good to me." I began, "So you better take care of her even if she..."

"You don't have to tell me." Kirito smiled sadly, "But we still don't know anything."

After a moment I looked up at Agil, "Can you make a whiskey sour?"

"Sure." Agil turned and began to make the drink.

"Reis... you found Chelsea?" Kirito asked with that weak tone still in his voice.

"Yeah, but things didn't go so well with her family." I laughed slightly, "And I'm going back to the states in a few days. If I stay any longer I will be an illegal alien. We are all having our little problems aren't we? Though yours are a might bit more severe."

"Asuna always complained about you to me, but I could tell she was fond of you." Kirito smiled, "I'm sure she would be happy if you visited her."

"I'll see if I can't squeeze a visit in before I have to leave." I smiled to him. "Which hospital is she in?"

"Blue Forest Private Hospital." Kirito spoke.

"Ahaha... small world... that's the hospital Chelsea is in." I slapped my hand to my forehead, "I'm not sure if I'm welcome there anymore."

"Eh?" Kirito asked, "Why not?"

"Chelsea's father owns that hospital and I got into a little tussle with his men." I laughed slightly with a nervous tone.

A few glasses rattled as Agil almost dropped the drink he was making, "Oi... did you say her father owned Blue Forest?"

"Mmmm... yeah that's what he said." I replied, "She was up on the seventh floor behind a locked elevator."

"Is her name Aomori Kotone?" Agil asked.

"...Yeah how did you...?" I blinked.

"Oh man." Agil laughed, "You're in way over your head."

"Huh?" I asked.

"The Aomori family is incredibly wealthy and her father has known connections..." Agil shook his head as he sat my drink down in front of me.

"So she's rich, big deal, that's why prenups exist." I sighed, "But yeah her father would be..."

"You don't understand, when I say connections I mean..." Agil leaned in and quietly whispered, "Organized crime."

My eyes twitched, "What?"

"Aomori Kotone is known as the 'Doll of the Aomori Clan'." Agil spoke sternly, "She's a damned Yakuza Princess."

Quietly, I slowly picked up my drink and downed half of it in one gulp and sat there in silence for around half a minute before speaking, "... _Well, fuck._"

We all sat there quietly for a moment before my eyes perked up as the drink washed through me.

"This... this is the best damn whiskey sour I've ever had." I said with surprise in my voice.

"Yes, I add a bit of orange and a drop of grenadine to it to balance the flavors around the lemon...that bourbon is also of a very high quality as well." Agil spoke proudly as if the previous conversation never happened.

With another large gulp, I finished the drink.

Once again we were all quiet.

"I... I think I'm going to _**need**_ another." I spoke up.

"Eh... heheh..." Kirito patted my shoulder in a mild condolence.

End Chapter


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Jagged Hearts

A numbness ran through my whole body as I carefully traced through countless photographs online. Agil wasn't kidding by any means. It didn't take much searching to find Kotone's photos all over the internet as she accompanied her father to banquets and other events. She was always in the most stunning clothes and various fashions every time she was presented. But in each photo, she wore a lifeless deadened gaze that seemed to be ever unchanging.

"So, that's why they call her the Doll of the Aomori Clan." I gruffed, "They dressed her up and show her off every chance they get."

The large and successful pharmaceutical company and multiple hospitals that Aomori Genjirou, Kotone's father, owned or had a part of would probably be enough to reaffirm a foot hold in his fortunes; but it was all an elaborate yet profitable cover for his less than reputable ties. Well, thinking about it, it is probably his less than reputable ties that allowed him to operate his business so successfully without competition sullying his net gains. The real question is, does Kotone even know about all this? I am pretty sure she would be more worried about me ending up in a riverbed tied to a cement block versus me realizing her disability. Right? ...right?

Sitting back away from the computer, I rubbed me eyes. No matter what scenarios I ran in my head, I did not see this ending well for me. If I was the same person I was back before the SAO incident, I would have already marked this girl off my list and forgot about it. But... damn that girl has a way of making my conscious interfere with more logical conclusions. Either way, in my current situation I have no means to combat her overly possessive father or his corporation to get to her. At best, I would get myself killed. To have any success at all, I would need to have much better financial resources and a better understanding of the market surrounding his business. And let's be honest here, I am no Edmond Dantès. I am short a decade of time to plan and a massive treasure trove to bolster my every need. I'm fairly certain that Agil doesn't want to be my Giovanni Bertuccio either.

Though, the seed has been planted. What I did in that hospital room was enough to draw that Chelsea's dark side out in front of her father. While I'll no doubt be blamed for her change in personality, it will at least keep her father on his toes. I also highly doubt that she will have enough sway to win him over for me. He obviously never respected her in the past, I doubt that will change just because she has proven rebellious. Seriously, what has happened to me? I jumped in without looking or doing research. That is so unlike me. My motto has always been "never fight a fight you can't win."

Tomorrow, I go back to the states, no if ands or buts. They have already picked up all of my luggage and taken them to the airport holding to be loaded onto my flight. There is no way to stay and I have no choice. All I can do is obediently go back to the states and bide my time till I can figure something out. But a part of me feels that once we are a world apart, we won't be able to go back to what we once had. Who would have thought I would long for the time I was trapped in SAO. She made that world worth living in. But for now, I'll have to resign to the world of my dreams. I have an early morning tomorrow.

0ooooo0

As I got off the train at the station closest to the airport I pulled my coat up over my neck as the cold air blasted me. I can't believe it was already approaching Christmas time. The station was lit up and decorated brilliantly. I come from a suburbia hell back in America; people just don't get this excited over Christmas anymore. It was refreshing. Though, there were a lot of posters featuring some male pop idol plastered all over the walls. He was apparently having a huge concert today in a nearby plaza. Off in the distance I could hear the boom of music. The concert was probably already started. Even so, it was pretty crowded in the area with a lot of young high school aged girls. The sun was suddenly blocked from my eyes for just a moment as I passed under the low skyway that everyone had to walk under to get to the airport.

"But Oujo-sama, the concert is over there!" I heard a deep voice pleading, "It has already started, don't you want to at least go see part of it? That was the reason we came out here, wasn't it?"

Oujo-sama? Heh, never thought I would hear that being said openly in public. After passing under the skyway, my curiosity got the best of me. I peeked back up over my shoulder up at the sky way.

My eye-twitched furiously as I spotted Chelsea standing on top of the skyway along with the bald guy who I laid flat yesterday, "... Chelsea! ?"

Chelsea's eyes grew wide for a moment, and then a sharp expression crossed her face. Without thinking twice, she suddenly climbed over and leapt off of the skyway, with a small bag fluttering in the wind behind her.

"Oujo-sama!" The man yelled and reached out for her as she leapt. He then noticed me below, "YOU!"

In a panic, I dove for her, just barely catching her and sliding across the ground on my back.

"Jesus! That hurt..." I whimpered as I sat up, "What the hell were you thinking! ?"

"I knew you would catch me, but we don't have time to chat... let's go!" She said hurriedly.

"But... go where?" I blinked as I stood up took her hand and began to sprint off.

Kotone held up two first class plane tickets to New York, with a stop in California and Texas, "I figured we could transfer over at which ever airport was closest."

"You..." I sighed heavily, "You're crazy, you know that?"

"I thought you liked the fact I was crazy?" She smirked as we continued into the airport, "The plane is leaving soon, and we have to hurry."

0oooo0

Once we were in the airport, many of the Aomori Family's men had followed us in. We had to get the East Wing to reach our flight, but that was the first place they all spread out to, so we moved into the West Wing. The two of us were leaning up against a pillar, waiting for a chance to go. I peered around and didn't see any of them, so I took Kotone's hand and started to pull her with me, but she suddenly resisted.

"Hold up!" She whispered as she pulled me back.

She lowered her head and cupped her ear, "I hear Tanaka coming."

"Tanaka?" I asked.

"He got shot in the leg about eight months ago, it hasn't been right since and he has a very unique lope when he is in a hurry." She explained.

She definitely knows about her family... And sure enough, a large man in a suit hobbled by with a slight limp. That is amazing.

"How could you hear that amongst this massive crowd?" I was shocked.

Chelsea just grinned, "When you know what to listen for, it's not hard to tell sounds apart."

A minute or two passed then she gave me the single to go. We had to move around the air port in a large circle to get back to where the plane was taking off from. There were too many of them at the entrance. However, we had men coming from both directions. In order to avoid them, I drug Chelsea with me into a unisex bathroom. Chelsea pulled away from me and moved up against the door.

"Can you hear anything?" I asked.

"Shh!" She hushed me.

"Ah..." I made a noise in response.

"I said quiet!" She hushed me again, "Don't even breathe."

After a few seconds of holding my breath, she beckoned me closer, "One of them is right outside."

"I can't believe you told me you were useless..." I gaped, "You are amazing, you know that?"

"Only because you are here." She flushed slightly as she said something that even embarrassed me.

"You..." I shook my head.

"When you visited me a few days ago, I knew it was you before you said anything..." Chelsea mentioned, "Only you could have gotten that close to me without noticing you. Your steps are soft and calculated. The way your heel comes down first into a gentle roll has always impressed me."

"How is that..." I began.

"Let's go!" She beckoned me.

We worked our way all the way around the airport only to find more men blocking our path, "Did they know which plane we were taking?"

"There is no way, Kazuto-kun was the one who bought the tickets for me." She explained, "I just gave him the money."

"Who is Kazuto?" I asked.

"I'll explain later." She cut me off.

We had to do something. We would lose our chance if that plane left without us. With a deep breath I let that deadly calm wash over me. Then I opened my eyes and began to scan the surroundings. There sixteen men in the area we needed access to. If they really didn't know which plane we are getting on, we were suffering a bad case of bad luck. I noticed the security in the air port was also starting to get finicky with all the suits moving around. They were whispering into their walkie-talkies while eyeing the men in the suits. ... That might work, but it would be a bit risky.

"Stay here." I told her, "Don't move until I come back for you."

"Okay." She replied with complete trust.

Not all of the men would recognize me, but they would be wary of a tall foreigner, as I was surely described. So I kept my head low and moved into the crowd and waited for an opportunity.

"...then he said he wasn't coming!" I heard a woman mid conversation on her cell phone, "Yeah... yeah, okay! See you soon!"

Right as she was about to slip the cell phone into her pocket, I bumped into her, sliding my cupped hand into her pocket swiftly, catching the phone before it fell completely to the bottom. Before my hand came into any view, I slid the phone up my sleeve.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" I asked her with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine... just be more careful!" She mildly scolded me.

"I will, sorry about that..." I scratched the back of my head.

Quickly, I moved back to Chelsea and taking her hand and leading her into another unisex bathroom. Then I pulled my own phone out and searched for the number for airport security. After finding the number, I called it using that woman's cell phone.

"This is Airport Security, how may I direct your call?" A female voice called through.

"There are some scary men in the East Wing of the air port in suits; they are planning on killing me! Please help!" I cried into the phone pathetically before hanging up and dropping the phone into the toilet.

"What are you..." Kotone furrowed her brows.

"Let's move!" I grabbed her again.

This time I boldly moved into the crowd where only nine of the original sixteen men were located near our flight. One spotted Kotone and began to move towards her quickly.

"Oujo-sama!" He called out heading for her.

Quietly, I whispered into Kotone's ear, "Look directly ahead toward the man who just called out for you, scream then cling to me and act terrified."

Following my directions, Kotone looked directly toward the man, screamed out with a blood curtling tone, and then began to cry pathetically as she wrapped her arms around me. Instantly, the airport security guards looked up due to her scream and swarmed the man. As the rest of the men began to move in, the other security guards began to do the same. The two of us disappeared into the crowd and silently moved over the boarding platform.

0oooooo0

"Hooooooh!" I exasperated as I collapsed back into the cushy first class chair of the plane, "I can't believe we made it..."

Both of Kotone's hands tightly grimed my right hand as she sat down next to me, "I can't believe I'm doing this..."

With my other hand, I grasped the back of her head and pulled her close and touched my forehead to hers, "We're going to make it."

"Yeah." She smiled and nodded, "But where will we go?"

"Back to my house for now I guess." I replied a bit unsure myself.

"But, he knows your name... he WILL find where you lived..." She began to get worried then a shocked realization hit her, "Your family!"

"It's okay..." I reached up and touched her face, "I was cautious from the very beginning when I gave that old man a fake name. That old man was a red player, even though he told me a heart wrenching story, I still didn't trust him."

"Eh?" A confused look appeared on her face.

"My name isn't Aiden Holloway." I smirked, "My real name is Sid Holloway... Aiden was an alias I used when played poker."

"Cid is it...?" A warm expression filled her face, "It's going to be weird calling you something other than Reis."

"You are still Chelsea to me a well..." I grinned.

"Wasn't Cid a reoccurring character in that game back then?" Kotone asked.

"No, my name is spelled S-I-D." I snickered, "My mother was a huge fan of the Sex Pistols back in her day."

"You are definitely no Sid Vicious." She remarked sarcastically.

"No kidding." I agreed with her.

Kotone scooted closer to me and laid her head down, I brought my arm up and around her. The plane was starting to fire up the engines around that point. Then curiosity began to overwhelm me once more as I realized how unlikely all of these events were.

"How did you... everything... I mean, how did you coordinate all of this?" I asked.

"Actually..." Kotone squirmed a bit, "I ran into Kirito when I was coming back from a rehabilitation session and he invited me to visit Asuna..."

"Poor Asuna..." I sighed.

"Yeah... but I told Kirito what happened, and we exchanged email addresses." She explained, "Then he help me pick the best spot to wait on you in a place where you would hopefully spot me and helped buy the plane tickets. I told my father there was a concert I wanted to attend and was hoping he would only send a light security detail with me... but there were more than I thought."

"I... I'm impressed." I laughed slightly, leaning my head back.

We grew quiet as time went on, then I heard Kotone softly snoring. She has had a big day today. I'll admit... I am exhausted as well. We have a very long flight ahead of us, some sleep would probably do us a lot of good. We're both still recovering from atrophy after all.

0ooooo0

It was late when we arrived in New York. The flight to my home state wouldn't be leaving till the next day. The two of us decided it would be best to get a room while we waited and sleep in an actual bed. Our fingers remained interlocked as I led her into the front entrance of the hotel.

"Let's get a suite." She tugged on my hand.

"Can we afford that?" I asked.

Kotone reached into her small overnight bag she had been dragging along all this time and pulled out a change pouch. She opened it up to reveal a massive wad of hundred dollar bills, "I came prepared."

I let out an appreciative whistle, "A suite it is."

It wasn't quite Christmas; we still had a little while, so hotels weren't wildly booked yet. After getting our key we headed up to our room. The view wasn't anything especially enthralling, not that it mattered much to Kotone, but the room was nice.

"I'm going to take a shower." Kotone spoke up, pulling a few things out of from her overnight bag then blushing slightly, "Can I... uh, borrow one of your shirts to sleep in?"

I smiled slightly, "Of course."

She had been in the bathroom for about five minutes now, and I was flipping channels checking news stations. I have been so focused on finding her that I haven't really caught up with what I missed in the past two years. It all seemed to be the same thing as before but with a different coating of paint... political nonsense, he said she said, and people were either unhappy with the president or revered him as per usual. I sighed heavily and started to turn off the TV, but then something caught my eye. The news was showing footage from what looked like a game.

"ALO is still rapidly growing in popularity as a safe virtual world." The newscaster explained, "There was much hesitation about the game after the SAO incident which has recently ended and resulted in the death of over four thousand people."

Suddenly, Kotone made a surprised shrill sound. I quickly hopped off the bed and rushed to the bathroom and opened the door, "Are you alright?"

At that moment I saw her, she wasn't anything like she was in the game. She still looked undernourished and her rib cage was fully visible. Her frame was almost spindly.

"GET OUT!" She threw a mini-shampoo bottle.

"Wha-?" I ducked under the bottle, "What happened?"

"Don't be such a pervert, GET OUT!" She said as she covered herself, "The water was cold and it surprised me!"

I shut the door then leaned up against it, "It's not like we haven't ever..."

"This is the real world... things are different." She sounded a bit angry.

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch too?" I asked.

Kotone was quiet for a little while, "...No."

After she finished showering up, I left a shirt on the bed for her then hopped in myself. I was probably in there for a good thirty minutes washing away the stress of the day. Nothing revitalized me more than an overly hot shower. When I left the bathroom, Kotone was already in bed and the lights were off. Carefully I put on some night clothes and approached the bed. I slid in under the covers in moved in behind her, wrapping my arms around her.

"It feels like it's been a long time." I whispered quietly.

"Mmhmm..." She replied.

As I embraced her, she skittishly twitched; she almost seemed nervous, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah..." She replied.

"If you didn't want to do anything tonight, I'd understand..." I began, "You were just always so aggressive that it's weird seeing you like this."

"I am a long way off from the girl you knew in that game." Kotone replied quietly, "That's one of the reasons I was so terrified to see you again."

"I still see hints of her." I teasingly bit down on her ear, causing her shrill.

"S-Stop..." She whimpered.

"Teasing you like this is kind of fun..." I snickered.

An elbow suddenly struck my gut, "I said stop!"

"Sorry." I whispered, snuggling my head down to the top of hers as I pulled her to my chest.

After a long moment of silence in the darkness, she spoke up hesitantly.

"... When I was in SAO, I felt like I started a new life and left everything behind." Kotone began, "But, now that I am back... everything returned, all my fears and doubts... I'm scared."

"We'll figure it out." I smiled as sleep started to take a hold of me, "I'll be there for you."

0o0o0o0o0

"Sir." A subordinate entered the room, "We questioned the woman who owned the cellphone; she swears up and down that it went missing that day."

"Let her go." Genjirou never turned to face the man, his eyes locked on the monitor in front of him.

"Are you certain?" The subordinate asked.

"Don't question me!" Genjirou barked back.

"Yes sir." The subordinate dismissed himself.

Genjirou began to rewind the video he was watching once more. His eyes narrowed to a deep focus as he watched in slow motion as the man he knew only as Aiden Holloway skillfully swiped a phone from the said woman so quickly that his eyes could barely catch it in slow motion.

"Not bad." Genjirou smirked slightly, "But I still don't see why my daughter is so taken by you..."

He brought up another monitor from a different camera feed. It showed as Kotone grabbed the young man, pulled him back, and kept him hidden while one of the men ran by. Genjirou was equally impressed by his daughter as he was furious.

"The plane they got on..." Genjirou grimaced, "They could be anywhere in the states by now..."

Genjirou's phone suddenly lit up in the darkness below the light of the computer monitors. Looking down at the name of the caller, his eyes grew wide.

0ooooo0

Awaking the next morning, I found Kotone bundled in the usual sleeping positioning she always was in when we were in SAO. She was tightly knotted up against me with her face buried into my chest. All I could see was her flowing hair atop the blankets. On some of the warmer nights, this habit of hers was uncomfortable. It always amazed me how it never seemed to bother her. But at times, she was sweltering. But the cold air of a New York winter was hanging heavy outside and a light frost covered the windows; so today was a day I gladly welcomed her warmth.

Much like those countless times within the game, when she finally awoke, her head slowly turned up to face me. Around this time our eyes usually met and she would smile. But this time was different. When she looked up, realization crossed her face and a sad expression formed.

"Good morning." I placed my hand on top of her head.

"Mornin'" She yawned, "What time is it?"

"Our plane isn't leaving till late in the day..." I replied.

"Then I'm going back to sleep." Her face disappeared back into the sea of her pitch black hair.

"Sweet dreams." I replied as I wrapped my arms around her.

After a bit of squirming and trying to get comfortable, she finally rolled over away from me and knotted up. Although she always woke up in that position, she could never fall asleep in it. A deep sigh escaped her as she tried to fall back asleep.

"Hey." She suddenly spoke up.

"Mmm?" I replied with my eyes still closed, fighting away the intrusive morning sun.

"Do you miss SAO?" She asked.

I had to contemplate my answer for a bit before replying, "Parts of it."

"Would be it weird if I said I wished that world were real?" Her voice grew shallow.

"Considering your situation..." I began, "I don't think it's unreasonable."

"What about you?" She asked, "Do you ever wish it was real?"

"Hmm... maybe if you were there." I smirked.

"Augh... what a cheesy answer." She mocked me.

0oooooo0

The sun was starting to set and we still had an hour or so before we needed to be at the airport. So the two us were walking down one of the main streets past all the shops. Kotone was tightly wrapped around my arm swaying back in forth with a light hum chiming quietly from within her. Christmas decorations were in full bloom in this area, and many shops had Christmas music playing and the scent of pine and cinnamon hung heavy in the air from the various gift shops.

"You certainly seem to be in a better mood." I smirked.

"Hearing the sounds of Christmas reminds me of when I was younger." She explained, "I lost my sight right after a really nice Christmas I had. All of daddy's men brought me a gift and we celebrated under a really big tree."

"That sounds mildly terrifying." I chuckled.

"I didn't know what he was doing back then." She smirked, "But still, it was a good memory."

"Does your father's line of business bother you?" I asked.

Kotone tilted her head mildly, "I don't really approve of it, but he has always been a very good father to me if not a bit over protective."

"I think that's quite the understat-" I paused and grew still.

Kotone bumped into me when I stopped, "W-what's wrong?"

"We're being followed." I explained.

We've crossed eight blocks in a zig zag pattern, and each time I've seen the same guy with a brown hoodie and a news paper somewhere in our vicinity. Likewise, I've seen the same bicyclist four times in the past hour. Both kept their faces concealed.

"Come on." I ushered, "We need to move, we don't want to have another repeat of the last airport incident."

Weaving between the people in the crowd with Kotone carefully in tow, my mind raced. Was it Genjirou's men? Did they find out? How did they get here already? They would have had to leave last night and flown straight here. While my mind was still spiraling in thought, my eyes darted back and forth. A busy mall caught my eye as the safest place to lose them in.

Racing through the first floor clothing boutique, Kotone started to grow languid in her pace. While a spark of concern for her pressed into my mind, I was more focused on getting us to a taxi before getting caught. We pulled out of the clothing store and into the main strip of the indoor mall. As we passed all of the shops, Kotone nearly tripped. I turned and caught her right before she fell.

"Hey..." Kotone spoke up.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, but..." Kotone was trying to say something, but she was struggling to find the words.

"Just a little bit more, okay?" I told her.

As I approached the exit that was next to the movie theatre, I noticed the area was oddly devoid of people. This time of night or late day I should say, the movie theatre should be packed. My pace slowed once more as I took in the situation. Something was not right at all.

"Kotone!" A deep voice called out.

My eyes grew wide.

"Daddy..." Kotone spoke quietly.

"How?" I was trying to conceive how he was tracking us. Kotone was using a prepaid phone and he shouldn't know who I was.

Tightly, I gripped Kotone's hand and looked around for an escape, but every single passage was starting to be blocked off by Japanese men in suits. Slowly, Kotone's father stepped forward. How the hell did the Japanese government not catch on to that many Yakuza members traveling internationally? Unless... It doesn't matter at this point. We had to do something. Once I started to move, Kotone gripped my hand tightly and stopped me.

"It's okay Reis." She spoke weakly.

"Huh?" I turned to her, spotting her expression, "You can't mean that you..."

"I was the one who called him." Kotone admitted.

"But, why?" I asked.

"Because... last night I realized I'm still not myself. I'm not ready for this yet." She lowered her head, "When have you ever known me to run away from a confrontation? The fact I ran was proof enough to myself that I'm doing something wrong. We have to do this the right way. My father is craftier than you can ever imagine. He would eventually find us."

"You know we may never see each other again if he takes you." My eyes grew weak.

"I don't believe that for one second." She took both of her hands in mine, "We both know we will find a way."

"Assuming he doesn't kill me." I smirked sadly in a mild jest.

"Part of the deal was that he wouldn't hurt you." She forced a smile.

Slowly, I reached out and took Kotone into my arms. Tightly, she wrapped her small arms around my back in return. As I looked back over her shoulder, my eyes met with Genjirou. His glare was that of any father who did not want to let his daughter go. Nonchalantly, I stuck my tongue out at him trying to break that vice like stare that he was holding. His fist clenched as he took a step forward. But suddenly, Kotone was pinching my side, "I know what you are doing. Stop."

A warm smile overwhelmed me as I placed a hand on her head, "You know me too well."

Kotone nodded, "I may be comfortable with you and know you all too well sometimes, but I'm still not comfortable with me. I need to work my own problems and I need to face my father and let him know I am my own person."

"Kotone!" Genjirou yelled, "It's time."

Kotone gripped my shirt and pressed her forehead to my chest as she always did while sleeping, "Good bye for now."

Gently, I kissed the top of her head, "For now..."

Kotone turned away and walked towards her father. As she approached him, he placed a hand on her shoulder, yet his affixed glare never broke away from the lock he had upon me. Without a word, he proceeded forth past his daughter who he handed off to that same short bald subordinate before heading in my direction. Everything from his glare to his walk had one purpose; to intimidate me. He grew uncomfortably close as he pressed his face into close proximity with my own.

"If you truly love my daughter, become someone that I can't ignore." He spoke almost threateningly in a low voice, "Then I might be willing to negotiate."

"As much as I love your daughter, whatever I may do to catch your attention will not coincide with your less than official means of gathering profits and-" I stopped as a smirk came to Genjirou's face.

"June 6th, 2020." Genjirou grinned toothily, "Don't act like your hands are clean."

A dark twisted grin came to my face as he relayed that very important date, "You have a nose more keen than any blood hound I've ever met... to pick up such an old trail. No one involved had any idea who I was. I was very thorough. Though, I doubt you will ever tell me how you sniffed that information out. Just how far did you dig into my past?"

"Does my daughter know what you are capable of, Sid?" He spoke my name, "She is quite innocent."

"Innocent? That daughter of yours is capable of more than you realize." I replied, "She will surprise you in the coming months, I'm sure."

"I look forward to it." He turned away from me as he began to walk off, "Do not disappoint me."

Genjirou put an arm around his daughter as he began to exit the mall. All of his men in various locations started to pull back as well. Kotone suddenly stopped and turned to face me.

"I'll be waiting on you Reis!" She called out.

"You can count on it!" I yelled back before turning my gaze to Genjirou

Trust me you scarred bastard. You can count on it.

0o0o0o0o0

Kotone quietly listened to her father's heavy breathing. While to most people, his breaths wouldn't be that noticeable, but she knew this pattern of his. He was heavily thinking of on something and was at an impasse on how to handle a situation.

"Daddy, I know you keep your word..." Kotone tightened her fingers, "But I was really surprised that you agreed to not hurt him."

"That boy... Sid..." Genjirou began, "Hmm... how do I say it..."

"He's impressive isn't he?" Kotone smirked up at her father.

"We'll see..." Genjirou looked out of the window of the plane.

"You WILL see." She insisted.

Genjirou's eyes narrowed down at the document he held in his hand entitled June 6th, 2020, "I just hope that I have not stirred the slumber of a sleeping giant..."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo

Side Story Volume 1: The Dragoon, THE END

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo


	11. V2 Chapter 1

****((Author's Notes: Seems a few people are confused, I highly recommend reading up to and finishing Volume 7, Mother's Rosario of the official light novels before continuing past this point. Sorry if my references to the time period were a bit vague. I may end up doing a few edits.))

**Volume 2 – Chasing Shadows**

Chapter 1: The Curse of Tiamat

The chime of a new message quietly echoed in the small circular display within my field of view. Impatiently, my tail swayed back in forth in response. With agile fingers I unlocked the window and pulled down the message which read:

"_It shouldn't be much longer. Work can be grueling, but surprisingly, I am enjoying myself_."

Asuna's voice suddenly perked up, "I'm starting to think that you mail him more than you actually play the game."

"Oh, stuff it." I snarked at Asuna playfully, "Father monitors my phone and computer emails; this is the only way I can get away with normal conversation with him."

Asuna smiled lightly, "So, how is he doing?"

"He's sounds like he is working really hard." My eyes softened, "He keeps saying he is going to come to Japan when he gets a chance, but things keep coming up. He says he hardly has time for a social life much less time for a trip anywhere."

"Everyone is working to get their lives back on track..." Asuna pulled her fingers into a light fist.

"It's hard to believe a year has already passed since then." I looked up to the ceiling.

"Hey you girls over in the corner!" A salamander warrior called out, "If you have time to chit chat, go patrol the building!"

Kirito, who was sitting in a corner quietly snoozing, sat up and glared side longingly towards the salamander. The salamander let out a "Cheh" sound in annoyance and walked away and leaned against the rickety doorway that led out of the barn.

"All of the Salamanders are so jumpy." I mentioned under my breath.

Asuna nodded, "Well, they think General Eugene is going to be the target this time around."

"Not if I can help it." Kirito spoke out sternly.

We were all gathered here at a very out of the way farm near the Ageless Arena which is north of the Spriggan capital to hide and protect General Eugene before his match. The Ageless arena is where the Second Annual Grand Inter-Race Tournament is being held. All of the races had their own contests to decide who would compete at the GIRT. However, ever since the qualifications began, people were mysteriously late or their character was killed shortly before it was their time to compete. Many people who had some hand in the tournament were gathered here in case something happens.

"There is no need for all these precautions." General Eugene crossed his arms, "If I can't handle some cowardly assassin, I wouldn't be competing in the tournament."

"That's right!" The salamander from earlier chimed in, "Eugene-sama can fend off any-"

A sleek gauntlet with sharp clawed finger tips ripped through the door he was leaning against and straight through his chest. The moment he looked up in surprise, he exploded into a torrent of fire, leaving nothing behind except for his Remain Light.

General Eugene sat up and rolled one of his shoulders, placing his hand on the Demonic Sword Gram's hilt with a grin, "Well, it looks like he isn't an amateur. I would expect nothing less!"

With great caution everyone slowly rose to their feet, readying their weapons. More of Eugene's guards took steps forward towards the door with mild trepidation. Asuna and Kirito looked to each other and exchanged a knowing glance. The two of them rushed forward, taking point on each side of the door.

"I'll rush out and act as a decoy." Asuna suggested to Kirito, "As soon as he shows himself, you finish him."

Kirito had an expression of discontent as Asuna explained her plan, but that determined and ready look in her eye gave him no quarter to disagree. With a silent nod, Kirito relented and tightly gripped the hilt of his sword. With a very steady and slow moving reach, Asuna extended the tip of her rapier and pushed the door open. Nothing happened.

"I'm going." Asuna whispered as she launched off of her toes in a graceful lunge.

The moment she crossed the threshold of the opening, two clawed gauntlets reached down from above the doorway, grabbing each side of Asuna's head. With a mighty twist Asuna was suddenly facing back into the door way with a blank expression, but her body was still facing forward. All I could do was cover my mouth in a deeply disturbed gasp. But that was nothing compared to the horrified look on Kirito's face. In a blue torrent Asuna faded away.

In a moment of agitated rage, Kirito slid out of the door in a guarded position with few openings to exploit from above or from the sides. However, the moment Kirito dove out of the building, a window in the barn shattered as a blurred figure exploded into the room, propelled by a burst of dark purple energy. The sharply jagged midnight colored wings signifying a member of the Imp race faded from the figure's back before he even touched the ground. An overly long ornate scarf was wrapped around his head like a hood, barely containing snow white hair that had the texture of swan's down. Two violet colored eyes peered up upward towards General Eugene with an almost amused fierceness. The moment his feet touched the ground, he was already in a full sprint towards Eugene.

The representative from the Puca race, Ixion, took a guarded position behind the General and began to chant a highly destructive spell. Those two dark purple wings exploded out of the Imp's back as he suddenly propelled past General Eugene before he could react, right towards Ixion. Ixion smirked slightly as he continued to chant while unsheathing his sword from behind his back. Puca's weren't popular because a lot of their spells were song based, but those who knew how multi task sword play while chanting their spells, were incredibly effective in combat.

While continuing his chant, Ixion stepped forward and stabbed outward toward the Imp with an impressive speed, however the Imp ducked low and agilely flowed around the sword strike. Ixion caught the Imp in an opening, and began to bring his sword down upon him. The reaction on the Imp's face showed no signs of fret. He simply bent his back backwards and lifted his leg, kneeing the base of the hilt, launching Ixion's sword from his hand. The moment Ixion's eyes grew wide with hesitation, the Imp snapped back up right in a spring like rebound and sliced the edge of his sharp fingers right across Ixion's throat, leaving him unable to speak, much less cast a spell. The Imp's eyes grew wide for a moment as he realized the Demonic Sword Gram was being pulled around in a wide arc towards him. In a near inhuman contortionist act, he rotated his body and swiped his left hand through the sword, causing it's vorpal nature to activate. The Imp then caught the sword with his right hand. However, the Imp didn't expect the sheer power behind Eugene's attack. As the General put his back into the swing, he pushed the Imp back and launched him across the room.

Taking this chance, I moved quickly in behind the Imp, jumping into the air and holding my staff high above my head. If I could land a blow square on the crown of his head, I'd finish him off. The Imp was moving backwards through the air in an uncontrolled flight. I positioned myself so that we were on a collision course. As I lined up my attack, I activated my Original Skill, Radiant Impact. Even though this game's system does not support a stats system that would allow me to become a juggernaut like in the last game, the ability to add effects to your OS skills, allowed me a little lee way. I could put incredibly high knock backs on my skill, so that if they collided with a wall after being struck, they'd take heavy damage. Also, if I smash them from above and continue the force into the ground, even more so...

A low laughter escaped from my throat as a twisted grin came across my face. My staff ignited in a bright light that would explode into a sheer impact force. As I brought my staff down toward his head, he suddenly self corrected mid air, his wings unfurled with a ridiculous speed and accelerated his approach, launching under me before my staff came down. He latched onto my leg as he passed me before sharply angling upward, using the force to flip me upside down mid air. He continued with the circular motion, dragging me around before swinging me downward, sending me straight into the ground. The whole building shook as my violently glowing staff discharged its energy into the ground.

The Imp ended up bracing against the ceiling, upside down. He was chanting a dark spell, whispering the words into his cupped hand. A rune imbedded into his palm ignited into a deep crimson color. His wings spread once more as he launched off the ceiling towards Eugene. The General took a defensive stance, preparing for the frontal assault. Suddenly, a dark wave pulsed over the Imp and he vanished. Eugene's eyes grew wide as he felt something behind him. The moment he turned around, the Imp reached up and pressed his palm against Eugene's chest. A dense darkness spiraled from the Imp's clawed hand for a moment as the rune transferred from his palm to Eugene's chest.

As the spell finished, the Imp's arm was suddenly cleaved from his body at the shoulder and faded away as two swords crossed in a scissor motion. The Imp looked up to see Kirito bringing around both a dark sword and the brilliant sword Excaliber towards him. The Imp launched backwards, his eyes locking on to the rune that now resided on Eugene's chest for a moment before turning and rocketing out of the barn into the fields. The still enraged Kirito was hot on his heels. Dragging myself off of the ground, I made my way out of the barn to see Kirito quickly catching up with the Imp. Kirito was much faster than he was. As the Imp noticed this, he surprisingly turned quickly on one of the spriggan farmhand NPC's. The hand that the Imp still had, ignited into a dark indigo flame as he activated his Original Skill. He drove the hand deep into the farmhand NPC, causing the NPC's back to arch. The NPC's face grew pale suddenly as the Imp's arm began to regrow. The drained looking NPC fell to his side and exploded into a dark spriggan flame.

Kirito's face contorted even more, "How can you just kill NPC's like that?"

A puzzled expression crossed the Imp for a moment in reaction to Kirito's distain of the NPC's death. While Kirito was distracted by the NPC's death, he reequipped the clawed gauntlet on his freshly regrown arm. The moment the claw was reaffixed to his arm, Kirito was on top of him, swinging wildly. The Imp's concentration was unlike anything I've ever seen. Each time Kirito would bring one of his blades in on him, he would gently push the blade away by its flat surface, avoiding the sharp edges. Though I've seen Kirito's speed before when we were in SAO, I've never seen anyone except for Heathcliff match it. But the fact was, Kirito was overwhelming the Imp, there was no chance for the Imp to go on the offensive. It took everything he had to parry each of Kirito's attacks.

In the middle of the furious collisions of metal that was ringing out between them, the Imp suddenly vanished in a dark pulse, just like when he attacked Eugene. Kirito instantly turned around, expecting the Imp to be behind him, but when the Imp reappeared, he was in the same location he disappeared from, but this time, his hand was glowing with a dark indigo flame. But Kirito was faster than the Imp expected. He turned and countered with his own unique ability to break spells. He cut through the dark indigo flame, blocking the attack, ending the Imp's OS. However, as Kirito blocked the attack, the Imp gripped his sword with his clawed gauntlets and hopped slightly off the ground kicking with both feet. His right foot angled off and struck Kirito's free arm, preventing him from counter attacking; while the heel of the Imp's left foot, struck straight upwards into Kirito's jaw. As Kirito reeled backwards and started to gain his footing again, he looked up to see the Imp was completely gone. Kirito paused for a moment as if waiting on him to reappear.

"He's gone!" I yelled out, "He darted away the moment he hit you. He actually kicked off your chin to get his flight started."

Kirito rubbed his chin as if it actually hurt, "Damnit..."

I'm sure his pride was sore more than anything, "He knew he couldn't win in a straight out fight with you."

"But Asuna..." He mentioned.

"She'll be fine." I smiled, "Though she will probably fuss about her loss in skills points."

Ixion slowly came out of the barn, grasping his throat. When we both looked up at him, he used his thumb and pointed back into the barn as if signaling for us to come back inside.

"Eugene-sama, we have to ask them to postpone the tournament!" One of Eugene's men suggested.

"No, I can't let this stop me." Eugene stood up from the hay bale he was sitting on, "That would be playing right into that slimy Imp's hands."

That fiery rune was still burning bright on Eugene's chest, "What did he do to you?" I asked.

"He put the 'curse' status ailment on me." Eugene explained.

"But curse doesn't last that long, why is it still in effect?" Kirito asked.

"That clever bastard imprinted a high level curse spell in a Gnomish blood rune." Eugene explained, "It's got a four hour long duration."

"But the tournament is..." Kirito looked frustrated.

The curse status ailment was only known to be afflicted by monsters and high level Imps. It completely locks out your ability to cast spells or use Original Skills. Imps are proficient with Umbral magic, which is mostly Dark elemental. They are usually status effect spells or spells with some offensive outcome. Most people didn't level these spells because status ailments were seen as being not worth it. Blood Runes were given to Gnomes in a recent patch in order to make them more party viable. They could sacrifice a little bit of their HP in order to create them and affix them onto other player's equipment. Having a rune charged with a spell increased it potency and duration greatly. Imp's are immune to cure, so after he afflicted his own rune with the spell, he used a status transference spell to apply it to Eugene. Without spells or Eugene's patented Volcanic Blazer OS, he would be an extreme disadvantage during his match.

"Don't worry, I will manage somehow." Eugene gruffed, "Besides, we know who the culprit is now."

"We do?" Kirito asked.

Eugene nodded, "Back before the game was released, we had a pretty infamous Imp who would attack large beast hunting parties while they were mid fight and take their loot. I encountered him a few times myself. His name is Tiamat."

"Tiamat?" I narrowed my eyes, "I've think I've heard of him."

"He became well known as a "Fixer" when he set up an open PayBuddy account and made the offer that if you put in a request and enough money to cover the difficulty of the request, he would make sure it would happen." Eugene explained, "It wasn't uncommon for people to put several thousand yen into his PayBuddy account just to have a particular player killed multiple times in order to put them behind... or to get a particular piece of loot one player owned and another wanted."

"Outright killing one of the participants in the tournament right before the Finals started could cause enough commotion to postpone the match, but if he just disabled him..." Kirito began to think out loud.

And of course, that means whoever hired Tiamat knew that Eugene would be prideful enough to still go through with the tournament.

"Can't we just get an Undine to remove the spell from you?" I asked.

Eugene shook his head, "One of the 'benefits' of the blood runes is the fact that no spell could remove them. That way whatever enhancement spell was on the player couldn't be removed by a monster for whatever means... it seems it works the same way with status ailments."

One of the salamander guards rushed in, "The Tournament Finals are starting soon!"

Eugene stood up, "Here I go."

0oooooo0

As the group of us were flying towards the arena, the world suddenly shifted and darkness over took my sight. Through an intense feeling of vertigo, I felt myself laying in my bed.

"Oujo-sama." I heard Tanaka's deep voice call to me, "It's time for dinner with your father."

"You idiot!" I snarled, "I was flying, I probably died after that forced log out!"

"My apologies Oujo-sama, but your father..." He had inflection in his voice.

No matter how much I would berate and threaten Tanaka, I knew that he would always go against me because my father's word was law in this house. As I sat up and moved to the side of the bed, I stuck my feet out. Tanaka obediently slid on slippers before taking my hand and helping me stand up. Although Tanaka guided me out of the room, through the halls, and down the stairs, I could have easily made it there myself. I knew every inch of this house. But my father has insured that I was made to not lift a finger, after all, he still blames himself for my blindness. Even after I told him that I was having problems seeing as a child, he told me that his children were strong and that it just because I had a high fever at the time. My disease was curable, but his children should be able to overcome sickness themselves.

The scent of my father's cigarette sharply invaded my nose as I was sat down at the table. I knew he was there despite the fact he hadn't made a sound yet, "Father, please email me or give me some warning that you intend to disturb me."

"Do I really need to make an appointment with my own daughter to be able to see her?" He took a long drag of his cigarette, "I would think after losing your brother to those games you would have a bit more of an aversion to them... and ever since then Dad has been holed up in his Dojo."

"You just don't understand." I sighed.

The faint sounds of him tapping his cigarette on the ashe tray rang out clearly to me, "I understand perfectly clear, you fell in love with some American boy on one of those games and now you are addicted."

"Don't bring Sid into this!" I growled.

"Ever since you met that boy, you have been a royal pain to deal with." His voice was growing slightly louder, "Yet with all the faith you have in him, all he does is sit over there in his little office job wasting away his life making less than what I pay some of our runners."

My nails dug into the table slightly, "You've been watching him...?"

He didn't respond.

I quietly relented and dipped my spoon into the bisque that was sitting in front of me.

"You are approaching an age where you seriously need to start considering marriage." He continued, "I can't bring some unprivileged American boy into our family. You need to get out and live life a little bit, just because you are blind doesn't mean you can't..."

My fist slammed the table, causing the bowl of bisque to hop and land on its side, pouring its contents onto the table, "And whose fault is that! ? I have always trusted you, that's why I thought it was the right thing to call you and do this the right way, but you've done nothing but make my life miserable since I've came back!"

"I'm doing what is best for you." He calmly replied.

"Then let me go to America and visit him!" I shouted.

"No." He replied simply, "If he doesn't come himself, there is no point to this whole charade."

"What are you talking about?" I blinked, "Did... did you set some kind of condition with him? Is that why he hasn't been able to come see me?"

His only reply was the sound of him sipping on his cup of tea. A great fury welled up inside of me. As I stood up, I grabbed the base of the table and with all my might, I flipped it over to its side, causing all of the contents to slide off onto the floor. I heard several of father's men gasp and whisper among themselves.

"It seems like that strong blood of the Aomori family runs through you." He replied in a rather sharp manner, "Now that your brother is dead, our only option is to find a suitable man to help carry along the bloodline that keeps this family going. There is no way I would accept a westerner into our circle."

"My mother was-" I started.

"Don't talk about her!" He snarled.

"U...Um..." The voice of one of the ladies who kept the house clean spoke up, "There is a Yuuki Asuna here for the Oujo-sama."

"Oh, you had plans with the Yuuki girl eh?" Father acted unphased by my violent display, "You need to make more friends like her. I have a few connections with them. A man from the Yuuki family would be acceptable."

"_Screw off_..." I mumbled as I turned and proceeded towards the front door.

0ooooo0

"I want something fattening!" I begrudgingly brought my hands down on the bar top.

A chuckle rang out deeply from above me as Agil spoke, "Is the little lady upset today?"

"She had another fight with her father over Reis." Asuna smirked.

"I want a hamburger, with like a whole pound of beef." I continued in a slightly whiny voice.

Agil tried not to laugh, "I don't think I have any ground beef."

"A-suuu-naaa..." I whimpered towards her.

"I'll take you to a McDougals after we leave." Asuna promised me.

"What did she do this time?" Agil asked Asuna.

"She flipped the dinner table." Asuna sounded bemused.

"Damn right I did!" I sat up beating my fists on the bar.

"Be nice to the bar top, would ya?" Agil spoke out with a mild hesitation.

"I flipped his precious mahogany table, dumping a whole meal on his prized African rugs." I moaned, "And he was nonchalant about it and lectured me on the fact he was doing what was right by me... nothing gets to him! I even heard the table crack a little!"

Agil sighed lightly, "That table and rug you ruined would probably buy two of my shops..."

"Oh, don't exaggerate!" I leaned my elbow on the bar, "It would probably buy one, tops!"

Asuna covered her mouth as she tried her best to stifle a laugh.

"You little brat..." Agil sighed bemusedly.

"Oh, Agil, have you talked with Reis at all?" I asked him.

"I... um, a little." Agil sounded dodgy, "Don't you talk to him all the time over that in game email I set up for you?"

"Yeah, but..." I was searching, grasping for any word on him at all other than what he vaguely told me, "Never mind."

0oooooo0

A happy hum was escaping from my throat as I took another bite into the hamburger, "All that English food and traditional Japanese food that Father has them prepare has nothing on this..."

"Slow down would you?" Asuna hesitantly warned, "Didn't you eat four of those while we were at the restaurant? I know you are tiny but if you are going to get fat at this rate."

I swallowed a particularly large bite, "Don't worry, anything I do now will be offset by that overly healthy nonsense my father usually feeds me."

By the smell of the ferns in the air, I knew we were approaching the complex my house was located on. It felt so good to be on the outside with a friend that I started to get sad as I made my way back to that stuffy house.

"Hey, Asuna." I called out softly.

"Hmm?" She asked.

"Thanks for letting me vent, I know it seems like that's all I do anymore..." I hung my head low as we walked.

"Don't worry about it." Asuna sounded empathetic, "We are all struggling at the moment in our own ways, and there is nothing like having someone to get it out with... because one day I am going to vent all over you. So just wait."

"I'm all ears and a good listener!" I grinned, "Literally, it's all I can do!"

"You got a pretty big mouth too." Asuna snickered, giving into my self-deprecating humor.

The two of us walked silently for a moment before I looked up to her, "That's right, you've been going through Aincrad with that Zekken person haven't you? We haven't seen much of you recently."

"We already finished what we set out to do, I was just trying to spend what little time we had left together... well together." She had a sad tone to her voice.

Around that time, we approached the stairs that weaves up between the trees. In a way these stairs have been one of the few sources of exercise I get anymore. I use to get so exhausted going up and down them but now...

"Oh!" Asuna suddenly sounded surprised, "What's that big traditional looking building up on the hill in the distance?"

We were eighty two steps up the main walk, so judging by the direction Asuna's voice was traveling...

"OH! That's Ji-chan's dojo!"

"Eh? You mean the infam... er Aomori Ichirou?" Asuna sounded hesitant.

"Mmmhmm, Gramps! Wanna go meet him? I haven't seen him much since I've came back!" I offered.

"No, that's perfectly oka..." Asuna was trying to turn me down.

"Gramps isn't like my father!" I protested, "He's a sweet old man."

"Eh-heh..." Asuna sighed, "Okay, fine."

0ooooooo0

As I moved along the wall, feeling each familiar brick, I pushed a branch out of the way.

"Why are we sneaking in?" Asuna asked with a worried tone.

"Oh." I forgot completely, "Even though father took over the clan from gramps, gramps still has a loyal following, they usually don't let me in the front gate without getting a confirmation from father. So I've always snuck in the back where there is a gap in the wall."

As I worked around, I found the gap in the wall, but strangely, the brush around it had a set path cleared through it. Someone else besides me has been using it frequently.

"Bwahahahahaha..." I heard Gramps' laughter in the background, "You're still one hundred years too early."

How long has it been since I've heard Gramps laugh like that?

"That's enough old man, I'm heading over to Agil's for a drink." A familiar voice called out.

Gramps' voice echoed from beyond the wall, "Be careful, I heard my granddaughter was over there earlier today."

"No way..." I gasped, "But why?"

"Don't drink too much boy, I expect you to be here early tomorrow morning." Gramps replied.

Footsteps were growing closer, but they were hushed and quieted. They were incredibly faint, but they couldn't be completely masked when walking on the dead grass in the area. At that moment, someone slipped through the gap in the wall.

Asuna gasped, "Reis!"

I heard his breathing come to a complete stop, he wasn't making a single sound. But I could smell the heavy perspiration hanging upon him. He had been sweating profusely. But there was no doubt. Without hesitation I broke away from Asuna and tackled the familiar form, wrapping my arms around his still damp body. His hand came down on top of my head, but something was different. His body had changed. His lanky arms were full and firm but not bulky; his mid section was much more slender and tight. Swiftly, I pulled away from him, thinking I had the wrong person, but I reached up and grabbed his face and began to trace along his facial lines. It was him.

"Sid..." Tears began to well up.

"You little... it was supposed to be a surprise." That familiar voice finally rang throughout my ears.

Once more I wrapped my arms around him again, and he returned the hug. After around a minute, I slowly pulled away then swiftly jabbed my knee directly into his gut, causing him to cringe forward.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were coming! ?" I growled, "You know how long I've been waiting? And why did you go and see Gramps first... better yet, how do you even know him! ?"

Asuna started to laugh.

0oooooo0

A suited man with glasses was watching Kotone, Asuna, and Sid from a distance.

Carefully, he pulled up his cellphone, "Sir? This is Tanaka."

"How is my daughter doing?" A voice called back.

"**He**'s here with her." Tanaka called back.

"What! ?" Genjirou almost screeched, "But how? How is he in Japan? Where are you?"

"I just watched him come out of Ichijirou's place." Tanaka replied.

"What are you doing there, you know you have strict orders to not go near the dojo!" Genjirou barked.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to let the Oujo-sama out of my sight." Tanaka explained.

"... but how did he get to my father so quickly?" Genijou paused for a moment, "It seems our source in America has been compromised."

"And as for the Holloway boy?" Tanaka asked.

"Follow him... from a distance." Genjirou replied and cut off the phone.

Genjirou stomped away from his office desk and went into the main room, "Tachi!"

"Sir!" One of the suited men replied.

"You've been keeping up with our American contact, correct?" He asked.

"Yes sir." Tachi replied.

"He's been compromised, find out how." Genjirou explained, "He has always been loyal, he shouldn't have any reason to switch sides."

Tachi turned back to his computer and began to type furiously. After a moment, his computer screen turned black and a face holding one eyelid down and tongue stuck out appeared.

"What in the..." Tachi blinked.

Genjirou grew angry, "What is this nonsense! ?"

"I started to trace his IP address back before I contacted him and realized someone was spoofing his IP... as I traced the connection back through about three proxies, one of the connections uploaded a trojan it seems..." Tachi replied.

Genjirou angrily pulled his arm back and struck Tachi in the side of the head with his fist, knocking him out of the chair, "You are suppose to catch these things!"

0ooooo0

Kotone was still rattling off angrily, chastising me over my non-contact with her, "You sent me an email earlier today as if you were at work! I don't appreciate being lied to!"

My cell phone began to vibrate violently, as I pulled it up and unlocked it, I received a message, "Stopped at third proxy, the horse is within the walls."

"Who is it?" Kotone asked.

"Oh, no one." I grinned, "No one important anyway."

End Chapter

((Author's Notes: Hey everyone, seems I lied about making a new fict. While I originally was going to release part two as a separate fict, I got a LOT of private messages either asking me to send them a message when the second volume came out or if I could roll it into the old story somehow. So I decided to do just that, roll it into the same fict so you guys wouldn't have to worry about it. Just another heads up, I may be a bit slower on my releases due to a bunch of real life changes I am going through. So if I am not getting one up a week like I was before, that doesn't mean I've stopped, but I just haven't had the time. Once again thanks for all the support and I hope you enjoy volume two! I have a lot of fun stuff planned.))


	12. V2 Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Behind the Scenes

"Look." I rumbled lowly, "All you asked me to do was put the curse rune on him. There wasn't an 'I get a refund if my son still loses the tournament' clause in our verbal contract."

"Don't get cute with me." The masked voice barked back from across the screen, "I paid you for an expected outcome that I did not get."

"I did exactly what you expected me to; I put the cursed rune on him and locked his spells and OS abilities." I held my hands up, "As far as I was concerned, the job was done at that point."

"Eitherway, that Eugene is gloating over his victory." The voice replied, "Keep your money and there will be even more in it for you if you kill him while he is on stage accepting his reward tomorrow."

"No way in hell." I replied, "There is no way I can get close to him without getting noticing in the middle of a crowd that large, and that's to say if I can even beat him... assuming no one else steps in. That bastard his like a truck. I blocked his attack yesterday with a perfect guard and my health still dropped by more than half."

"I heard you killed two people in that large group of them yesterday and cursed him without dying, do you serious expect me to believe you can't take on one of them?" He grew anxious.

"I killed a newbie and an undine healer who took point ahead of the rest of her group." I explained, "Even with the help of an inside man, I had to use three shadow glyphs to pull off the rest. Those are several hundred thousand yould each. Do you know how much I could sell that amount of yould for on the RMT market? The job was almost not profitable because of that. You know how lucky I was to get away without only losing an arm?"

"I thought shadow glyphs were removed after the game was first shut down as part of the balancing." He asked.

"Exactly, I found a way to stock pile them on my character that was saved after ALO went down during that incident." I continued, "They removed the ability to get more from the game world, and removed them from most inventory spaces... so there is a limited amount of them left."

"Fine then if you won't do it, sell me a few of those shadow glyphs and I will send my own people to handle the situation." He offered.

"No thanks, I could make a much more profitable use out of them on my own terms." I sat back, "I'm breaking contact here. The proposed job is out of my means."

"Wait a second, I've paid you a lot of money and-" I cut off the connection, knowing he would probably report me for having those glyphs. But they wouldn't find anything.

The large screen that I used to communicate with the man faded away. With a few hand gestures, multiple screens loaded up in front of me. The program I was using was a personal full dive field. Many people have begun using them as a replacement for conventional computer interfacing. Instead of sitting in front of a keyboard and mouse in your office or bedroom, you had a whole virtual plane to work on.

"Now let me see here." Lifting my finger up, I loaded the play back of multiple recordings of the same event shot from different angles. I had quite a few Dark Eyes, the Imp tracking familiar, set up all around the barn monitoring the situation. With a third party program, I recorded what each eye saw and saved it to an external hard drive.

"Play." I spoke out loud.

The recordings started simultaneously. There were three eyes dangerously close to the barn, peering through the windows. And seven outside watching around the exterior, covering every exit and few birds eye views. The initial plan was to kill people as they left the building until either Eugene or Kirito came out. I had two snare traps in sequential order outside of every possible exit. If I snared Kirito, I'd bum rush Eugene, he was a lot slower, but if I stayed in range too long, I'd die. Eugene's normal attacks were enough to completely mangle me even if I blocked them. In terms of raw power, he was definitely the scariest.

The plan was set to be a great success when Kirito slid out right onto one of my traps. How the hell did he get out of it so fast? Holding up a hand, I enlarged the recording that was watching the front of the building and fast forwarded it to the point where Kirito went out of the front door. Kirito slid right out of the door and landed in the middle of the hidden spell circle. The magical chains rose out of the ground and encompassed him. After a bit of struggling he suddenly used some skill to cut straight through the chains. The chains were a spell, you shouldn't be able to damage them with weapons. My eyes grew wide after what I saw next. The sheer speed that demonstrated as he darted into the building and cut my arm off was simply impossible.

"Wait, I saw him use that skill again..." I fast forwarded the video to our fight outside. Right as I went in to use my Wraith's Touch to drain his HP as mine got low from blocking his attacks he cut right through the magical aspect of my OS?... He can break active spells and affects with a melee weapon? Fast forwarding through the video, I started it back up at the moment he caught up with me outside and we had a direct fight. Each slice and thrust that he preformed had incredible precision and speed. His style was a bit wild, unrefined and showed evidence of being self taught. He was making up for everything with sheer reaction speed and instinct. Even after everything that I've put myself through in this past year, he is still this far ahead of me. But he has one weakness, something that seems to have been carried over from SAO. He is hesitant to kill players. While I am sure he has killed plenty of players in this game previously, I was able to avoid some fatal blows simply because of that .1 second of hesitation that held him back from finishing me off.

"So that's it... it's like he has to confirm in his mind that it's okay in this world to kill before he actually does it. It's not much, but that 1/10th of a second of reaction time before dealing a fatal blow can mean a lot in such a close battle." I surmised, "But even so, there is no way I can beat him currently if he pulls out a second sword."

It doesn't really matter though, as soon as he pulls out that second sword, all I can do is escape. It's not easy to admit, but I was a lot lazier than he was during my time in SAO. He spent a large portion of his time fighting with his life on the line while I benefited from a distance. That is the difference in our experience. I will never beat him in a direct fight. But the fact is he isn't a PKer by nature, that's where my experience will... no, I can't let my pride get the best of me. It will not ever be profitable to engage in a job where he is present. He forced me to use two shadow glyphs when we fought; one to blindside him and one to get away. And those are by no means a renewable resource.

A deep sigh escaped me as I re-watched the recordings from front to back again, "I made a lot of mistakes this time."

Well then, I suppose it's time I paid the help. A separate screen to my left appeared, showing the login criteria for ALO. With a simple button press, everything around me faded away and a forest started to appear around me. I was in Vitae Woods slightly north of the wetlands on the edge of the Spriggan/Undine territory border. Originally this was a hot spot for Renegades to hunt back before infinite flight was granted to everyone. There are much less racial tensions than before, but things can still get heated. Either way, this place has become widely deserted for better hunting spots that are much less tightly guarded near capital cities. There is a hidden hole in the side of a particular tree in an out of the way area that few people have any reason of ever going to. Inside this hole is a single low level monster that gives very little in rewards. He was originally part of a quest in the game before it was shut down, but that quest has been removed. Very few people remember this spot was even here.

As I entered into the brush covered hole hidden in the side of the tree, I noticed the little goblin that usually occupied it had already been killed. As I scanned the small underground room with my Imp's True Sight vision, I spotted someone invisible in the corner.

"You Imps are the reason I chose to move to the Puca capital after maxing out my Illusionary Magic." He stepped forward out of the shadows, "I fool most Imps now but your detection skill is scarily high."

"I'm surprised the Puca nation hasn't figured out their representative is actually a Spriggan yet." I grinned.

Ixion stepped out of the shadows, dropping his Puca illusion, revealing his true Spriggan self. Reaching out my hand, I dropped a coin purse containing several thousand yould into his grasp. Slowly, Ixion looked through and confirmed the currency. He looked up with a wide grin.

"It's always a pleasure working with you." He exclaimed.

"You as well, your acting was impeccable this time around." I complimented him.

"You say that as if it ever was anything less." He smirked, "Though it was difficult to continually chant that sloth curse while shrouding it's effects, WHILE knowing you were about to slit my throat. I think I should get a bonus for that."

"Maybe I will slip a little into the next job." I reluctantly agreed.

As I turned to head out, I nodded slightly with a smile, but Ixion called out to me, "Hey! I didn't get the full degree of the slow onto Kirito like I did the others. I know you are damned good, but that guy is scary. I watched when he originally killed General Eugene back before he went into the World Tree. He isn't someone who..."

"There was enough of your spell on him for me to get away after burning two glyphs... he' still not someone I can handle. When your spell started to drop off of him and his attack speed returned to normal, I felt myself becoming overwhelmed. If I ever do kill him, it will have to be an assassination, I can't stand up to him in an all out fight. I know I am a better fighter than him skill wise, but his reaction speed and instincts are just inhuman. The moment I show any openings, his blade is already there." I lowered my head a bit frustrated.

"Well, I'll let the bosses know what was involved, they are a bit pissed at the fact that our client's son still lost the tournament." Ixion patted my back.

"Oh jeez... I just totally blew the client off and turned down his follow up request too." I slapped my hand across my face.

"Ouch." Ixion laughed.

"Anyways... I'm logging out now." I sighed once more reluctantly, "I think I will need a drink or two before I deal with them later tonight."

"You are their top performer; they won't be too hard on you." Ixion assured me.

"We'll see... watch my body until I log out, would ya?" I replied before sitting in the corner and logging out.

The world faded to black before my vision returned to the real world. As I sat up from my bed and removed the Amusphere, I ran my hands through my hair and yawned. Turning to my side I hopped up from the bed and landed on the tatami mat floor. Moving to the side of the room, I slid the old rice paper doors open revealing a porch looking over the mountains. I stretched widely for a moment before my cell phone on the night desk chimed.

Unlocking my phone I saw a message that read, "Come to Dicey Café, I have a present for you. 3"

"I just got off work, I will be there soon." I replied.

The door to my room slid open furiously and a large man had a foreboding look, "Master Ichirou requests your presence for afternoon lunch."

"Tell him that I'm a bit busy today." I replied.

"If you avoid another one of his requests..." He narrowed his eyes angrily.

"Tell the old coot that I'm going to see his granddaughter, he will understand." I dismissed him.

"You disrespectful worm... why does he even bother with you?" He growled as he came into the room, "You even take the Oujo for granted!"

Angrily, he stomped in and pulled his fist back, and struck towards me with a terrifyingly potent punch with his right hand. Quickly, I moved to the side just before it connected and came around in a roundhouse kick, hooking the back of my calf around his neck, pulling him down to the ground violently.

"The old man told us not to squabble didn't he, Arata?" I looked down at him pressing my heel against his throat, "If you don't stop trying to get me in trouble, you are going to have a very painful accident."

"I won't let that sweet girl be corrupted any further by a demon like you..." Arata growled, "She even disrespects her father now..."

"She was plenty corrupt before she found me." I took my heel off his throat, "I just gave her a reason to stop holding it in."

Dismissing him, I turned and moved out to the porch. As I hopped over the railings, I heard him rush up behind me and shout, "Even if you take her, you will never become the head of the family!"

After landing on the ground I turned and looked back up at him, "You can be the head of the family for all I care, she is the only reason I have anything to do with you guys in the first place."

0ooooooooooo0

The bells chimed as I walked into the café. Before seeing anything else, the first thing that caught my eye was the horribly angry look on Agil's face. I'm guessing he heard about what happened the day before. Sitting at the bar in front of him was Kirito, Asuna, and Kotone.

When the bell rang out, Kotone's head came straight up, and her ear twitched as if she was listening for something. As took a few quiet steps into the door, she happily hopped up and rushed towards me. It was incredible how she knew me by the sounds I made. With a near tackle, she collided into me and buried her face into my chest. As always, I put one arm behind her back and put my other hand on top of her head. Looking over her back at the bar, Asuna had a warm smile on her face as did Kirito. Practically dragging me, Kotone led me back to the bar.

"I'm sure she drug you away from whatever you two were doing to take her here..." I offered an apology, "She can be a little pushy some times."

"Don't worry about it." Asuna smirked, "It's just good that you two are back together."

"It seems I have you to thank for the little airport escapade we had a while back." I looked up to Kirito.

"I didn't do much..." Kirito smiled.

Suddenly, Kotone set a bag up on the bar with a loud thud, causing Agil to cringe slightly, "I have something for you!"

"Oh?" I grinned.

After digging around in the bag deftly, she pulled out an Amusphere and a copy of ALO.

"This is..."

"Come join us." Asuna offered, "We all play this game and have a lot of fun, Aincrad was even recreated in this world."

Looking down at the ALO case, I turned my head sideways, "I don't know how I'd feel playing as a Fairy... that's a little..."

"It's not as bad as it sounds!" Kotone protested placing both of her hands on my arm.

I let out a deep sigh, "I will try it out then."

Kotone's face lit up brightly, "You should make a Caith Sith like me then!"

"A Cait Sith?" I blinked.

"Yeah, it's the cat like race, they have tails and ears!" She exclaimed.

"Not only a fairy, but a cat boy too?" I frowned, "Let me look at the races myself."

Kirito snickered slightly, "I'm a Spriggan and Asuna is an Undine, the healer race."

"How did he get you to play a healer?" I asked Asuna as I cracked open the instruction manual.

"I chose it myself for a change of pace." She shrugged with a smirk.

"Oooh, these Salamanders look pretty cool." I pointed out.

"No!" Kotone grimaced, "Caith Sith have a bad relationship with them!"

"Okay then... I don't really like playing the big slow races... how about an Imp?" I asked.

Everyone grew quiet.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Asuna reached up and rubbed her neck for a moment, "It's nothing."

"We had a run in with an Imp a day or two ago, he twisted Asuna's neck till it broke..." Kotone explained in almost a child like manner, obviously still a bit too excited.

"Ouch..." I commented.

"Even though there is no pain in the game, you still feel your spine cracking..." Kirito glared down painfully, "It's never a pleasant experience."

"Um..." A rather loud female voice called out, "Is that Imp that white haired one who uses claw weapons?"

My eyes narrowed as the voice seemed to be coming from Asuna, who looked down towards her chest where what looked like a tiny optical camera was resting. Noticing my confusion, Asuna looked up to me and explained, "This is Yuuki, she plays as well, but she's very sick so she can't come outside, we use this camera to show her around."

"Yeah, how did you know about him?" Kirito asked Yuuki.

"Well, I think I came across him a few times... he tried to kill me by twisting my neck too." She explained.

"Eh?"Asuna blinked.

"I pinned him upside down to a tree by his feet and left him there." She explained casually.

Kirito tried to hold in a laugh.

Oh god, it's the Zekken. Just when I thought I permanently blocked her from my memories. But that camera...

"That little camera..." I began, trying to ignore the fact Zekken was here, "Is she viewing this from full dive?"

"Yeah." Kirito explained, "The company I've been working with has been experimenting with them."

My eyes grew wide.

"If at all possible could I borrow one?" I asked.

"It shouldn't be a problem." Kirito answered with a hint of curiosity, pulling one from his pocket and passing it off to me.

"Thanks a lot..." I looked down at the incredibly tiny camera.

"Just give me good feedback on it and any bugs you find." Kirito smiled.

About that moment I looked up to Agil and ordered a drink, "Could I get a Whiskey Sour from you?"

Agil just glared silently in my direction before turning to make a drink.

Asuna furrowed her brow, "Are you two fighting?"

"I did something I wasn't supposed to and he is a little mad at me." I scratched the back of my head with a goofy smile.

Kotone turned towards me and looked straight up at my face as if she could see me. I knew that expression. It was that hateful expression she showed me every time I lied and held that fake smile on my face. Even though she was silently berating me, it was incredibly endearing to see that same expression after nearly a year of being away from her. Gently I reached and placed my hand on her cheek. Instinctively, she leaned into my hand.

Asuna and Kirito looked at each other for a moment, "Well I think we better head on out."

"Ah!" Kotone jumped, "I need to go as well, father will come looking for me if stay out any later."

"Already?" I asked.

"Yeah... but you better play that game, I will be waiting for you!" She scolded.

"Fine fine... I will." I smiled.

Agil sat the drink down in front of me as everyone got up. Carefully, I took it into my hand and turned it up. At that point, I think I went into minor shock. Three distinct favors entered into my mouth. The first was the flavor of an incredibly harsh vodka that probably could be used as paint thinner, the second was an uncomfortably high amount of lemon juice, and the third was most definitely a large amount of hand soap. Instantly, I stood up and gagged before I swallowed any of that hateful concoction, spewing it back into the glass. Every turned towards me in a concerned manner.

"I thought your mouth needed a bit of a cleansing; it seemed to be pretty filthy from all the lies that were coming from it." Agil began to wipe down the bar from my uncontrollable dribble.

0ooooooo0

Everyone was gone now and it was just Agil and I. As he sat down another drink, I carefully inspected it before letting the liquid pass my lips. This time, it was one of his famous whiskey sours. A deep sigh of relief came from me as that glorious drink washed warmly through me.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" I moaned.

"I know you have to lie to them about the fact you've actually been here in Japan right under their noses... and it's been damned hard keeping it a secret, but to go out and kill them?" Agil had an annoyed tone in his voice, "That poor girl has been rubbing her neck ever since you did that..."

"It's not like I have a choice." I downed the rest of the drink, "If I don't keep my employers happy, I don't keep the connections that I need. I've had a pretty big break through recently and they are all on edge."

"I don't like it at all." Agil took my empty glass.

"I don't either, but the pay is amazing and I am getting close." I explained, shaking my head toward Agil as he made a gesture to ask if I wanted another drink.

"And another thing, ever since the princess has been coming here with Asuna, I'm getting more suited visitors as of recently asking questions. My wife is getting nervous." Agil explained.

"I'll see what I can do." I lamented as I stood up.

"Anything would be appreciated." He looked toward me with a somewhat weak expression.

0ooooo0

As I arrived back in my room at Ichirou's compound, my screen on the computer was flashing with a red notice. They were requesting my presence. Carefully, I sat down Kotone's present on the floor then laid down on the bed and placed the Amusphere on my head. The world faded away as I appeared in a very dark cathedral looking hall. Sat up high all around me were many shadowed faces wearing cult like cloaks and hooks pulled down far over their faces, concealing their identity. They were already arguing among themselves when I appeared down on the base floor below them. Although each of them shared the same ominous synthesized voice, they each had very different tones and mannerisms.

"Tiamat!" One of them barked out, "Our client is very unpleased."

"I did the job as described." I explained.

"We are providing a service in order to secure their confidence... even if things do not go as planned we need to continue to work with them until they are happy." Another voice explained, "Do we not pay you an adequate amount?"

"He asked me to do an impossible task." I explained, "I told him that it was outside my abilities and he grew angry."

"Is it that hard for you to kill a single man?" A third voice asked.

"Given the right circumstances and time, I can kill almost anyone in that game, but considering he will be in a stadium surrounded by upwards of two thousand people at the time he wants him dead, it's not going to happen." I crossed my arms.

"Make it happen." Yet another voice leaned in.

"I'm telling you, it's too difficult... I barely survived the last encounter I had with that group." I continued, "The only way I even made it out was through the use of exploits and an insider."

They grew quiet and contemplative. This was my chance.

"Fine." I called up to them, "I will do it, but because it is such a risk to me, I need something above and beyond my normal pay."

"You are actually making demands of us in this situation?" The voice in the middle called out.

"You all know I am the only person in your bag of tricks that can please this client." I gathered my nerve, "I can do this job, and you can answer a small request in return, or I can leave now and go find work elsewhere."

"..." They grew quiet for another moment, "What is your request?"

"I need one of your top techies for a week." I told them.

"What for what purpose?" One asked.

"I want to develop something; I don't need to tell you what it is." I glared up.

After a long pause, the middle one spoke up, "Fine, request granted."

0ooooo0

As I pulled the Amusphere off of my head, I exhaled deeply. It was a long shot but the gamble paid off. If my sources are correct, the "client" is actually Asamichi Touru, CEO of a certain banking group. They are going to need him in order to launder the money. All I had to do is piss off the client a little bit and let him rattle their cage a some and I could make a big request... even though I had something else in mind before hand.

I held up the small full dive camera that Kirito supplied me with, "This has much more potential... it was so simple that it is shocking no one else had even considered it."

Oh but if they ever knew I actually had a hand in helping Eugene win that match despite his disability... Perhaps I will slip that information to them after this is all over. I'd love to see their reaction. My perverse thoughts of tormenting my employers were subverted as my phone chimed with a new message.

"Make a Cait Sith. You know you want to."

"No." I replied sharply.

She replied with a simple emoticon of a crying face.

Once I closed my phone I smiled weakly, "As much as I wanted to torment your father when I take you from him, it looks like I am going to end up making him happy. How vexing..."

Chapter End


End file.
